After all these years
by chocogreen
Summary: AU! Tea meets the six-year old Yugi his brother, Yami the Duel King. Something about her seems familiar to him and he gets dreams about the old Egypt. Maybe it has something to do with his Millennium Puzzle... TeaxYami TeanaxAtem JoeyxMai TristanxSerenity
1. Birthday boy

**So, I've asked which story to write next and since SonAmyFanGirl wanted me to do Yami and Tea/Anzu, and I was dying to do so, I'm going to start a story about them ;) Hope you'll like it.******

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.******

**Warning: The story doesn't really follow the series, it's a bit AU, but of course the characters, duel monster cards and such stay the same. I only don't want Tea and Yami to know each other in the beginning ;) I might be switching POV's from time to time so I'll indicate it with their names.**

**Chapter one: Birthday boy**

**Tea:**

"Please Joseph, your warriors could never beat my harpies." Mai Valentine was dueling with my best friend, Joey Wheeler. As always, she was on the winning hand, but even I could win from Joey. He really wanted to learn the game but somehow he didn't have the patience or the techniques to be a duelist. But if he practiced hard he would become a great one, someday.

"Alright Mai, that's it. I've had it with you!" He smashed his fist against the table and gritted his teeth. As always he was getting angry. He didn't like to lose and certainly not to a girl. But with Mai it was different in some sort of way, he liked Mai, a lot. His chances with her were quit low and he knew that, since almost every boy in school liked Mai but she didn't seem to pay attention to them, at least not to all of them. Seto Kaiba was a jerk but she liked him, for his money. He on the other hand didn't pay any attention to her, he simply didn't have the time to fall in love or to have a girl walking after his wallet. Seto was one of the only real smart ones in our class but he was cocky too. His parents had died a few years ago and he had to take care of his little brother, Mokuba now and be in control of Kaiba Corp at the same time.

"Hey musclehead, calm down a bit will you." I looked up into Tristan's brown eyes, he was Joey's best friend. They were always there for each other but they had their arguments and a lot of them were about Joey's little sister Serenity. Tristan was in love with her and Joey didn't like it, not because it was Tristan, he just didn't like the idea of any guy coming near his sister, he had always been the protective one.

"I don't get it," Joey said. "It's the fourth time I'm losing to her, the fourth!" He shook his head which was now buried in his hands.

"Actually Joey, it's the sixth," I said. He looked over to me and sighed.

"This is so much fun!" Mai laughed at Joey, who stood up and took his deck, walking away from us.

"Come on Joe, it's not that bad. You're just a beginner and you don't have the right cards yet," Tristan shouted while running after him. He always was the one to calm him down.

"Hey Tea, want to go the mall or something?" Mai asked while packing her bag. Well actually it was more like a purse, somehow she seemed to get all her books into the thing. But she didn't mind if she broke it, she had enough money to buy a new one. Of course she was one of the most popular girls in school. She had long blonde hair and violet eyes, a lot of boys had a crush on her. I on the other hand was just a normal girl. Brown, shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, no one noticed me. Yet Mai was one of my friends although we fought too sometimes but we could forgive each other easily.

"No thanks, I have to go somewhere."

She shrugged her shoulders and walked off the playground towards her car. She had a nice car, a violet convertible, it matched her eyes. I didn't envy her, I didn't want to have a nice car, I preferred to take the bus. I didn't want to get in the spotlights, at least not like this, I wanted to become a professional dancer. It had been my dream since I was a little girl, going to New York and becoming a dancer was the only thing I could think about. I grabbed my books and walked to the bus stop while looking at my watch.

"I hope I won't be late," I murmured to myself. I had promised Mr. Solomon and Yugi to be on time, I had to make it.

A paper hung on the side of the bus stop and to my surprise there weren't any busses today leaving for Domino City so I decided to take a taxi. After five minutes I finally saw one driving through the streets. I put my hand in the air and the cab driver stopped. When I slid myself to the left side of the car I put my bag next to me.

"Game Shop please," I said to the man.

He nodded and we drove through the streets. My grandfather had been a good friend of Mr. Solomon and that's how I met Yugi. Today was his sixth birthday, I was like a big sister to him and of course he wanted me to come over and celebrate it with him. He had told me about his big brother, but I hadn't seen him before, he was traveling to become a duelist and apparently he had succeeded, at least that's what Mr. Solomon told me last week. I could still remember Yugi's excited face when his grandfather had told him he would give a little party. My grandpa died a few months ago so he couldn't make it, but he would be there with us in our hearts.

It was a sunny day and a lot of people were cycling or going for a walk. If I hadn't been so late after Mai and Joey's duel I would've probably taken a walk too. The driver didn't talk to me but I didn't want to talk, I liked these silent moments, just sitting in the car and watching everything pass by.

After about ten minutes the taxi stopped, I thanked the man and paid him for the drive. Big balloons in all kinds of colors were attached to the windows of the shop and the sign 'closed' hung on the door. I knew the door was open, because they were expecting me but I still knocked before walking inside.  
As soon as I had opened the door Yugi ran towards me, opening his arms for a hug.

"Tea!" he yelled and Mr. Solomon appeared in the shop too.

"Hey there birthday boy." He snuggled himself into my arms and hugged me.

"Let the girl breath," Mr. Solomon said and Yugi blushed while letting me go.

"I'm sorry Tea, I'm just so happy. All the people I love are right here," he exclaimed.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, my big brother came home about an hour ago," he said with a smile on his face.

I turned around when I heard some footsteps on the stairs. A boy around my age walked down and he looked just like Yugi. He had the same strange, wild, dark and red hair with blonde strokes in it. A pyramid like necklace hung down his neck and he looked at me with his deep crimson eyes, as if he was realizing something.

"Yami, this is Tea!" Yugi said while taking my hand and dragging me towards his brother.

I blinked a few times and stopped staring at the young man.

"Yami Muto, the duel king is your brother?" I asked the little boy. Suddenly I wondered why I had never seen the resemblance between the two. I had seen Yami on TV, dueling all kinds of people but I never realized Yami Muto actually was the brother of little Yugi.

He took a step forward and shook my hand but he seemed confused.

"Yes, that's me," he finally said.

**Yami:**

I walked into the living room and saw Yugi looking through a deck of cards. So my little brother and I shared the same passion. I put my grey suitcase down as silently as I could and walked over to him.

"Hello bro," I whispered in his ear while grabbing his little shoulders.

At first he was startled but then his arms were around my neck and I lifted him up in the air.

"Yami! Yami! You're finally home!" he shouted and soon my grandpa came inside too.

"Yami," he said while he walked over to me and give me a hug. We stood there about five minutes, all hugging each other until Yugi started to talk again.

"You know that today is my birthday, right?" he asked.

"Of course I know." I rolled my eyes. "You don't think I'd forget my own brother's birthday."

He shrugged his shoulders. "You weren't here the last two times."

He was right, I hadn't been here. A part of me just couldn't come back, he reminded me too much of mom. But after dueling all these different persons and traveling the world I had become a better person, a stronger person.

"Hey, what's that?" grandpa asked while pointing to my necklace.

"I got it in Egypt, it's called the millennium puzzle," I said.

He examined the pyramid with the strange eye and Yugi was jumping up and down, still being excited because I was home again.

"You should unpack, Yami," my grandpa said. "We're having a little party for Yugi in about 45 minutes, one of his friends is coming over. Her name is Tea Gardner, she was the granddaughter of one of my friends."

"A friend?" I asked Yugi. "Now tell me, do you like this friend?"

"Uhu! She's like my sister!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Your sister? Do you have a crush on me too since I'm your brother?" I asked, teasing the boy.

He blushed a bit but shook his head. "I would never fall in love with Tea, but she is really nice. She always makes cookies with me because grandpa isn't very good at it."

I smiled, wondering how a six-year old could make cookies but I went to my old bedroom to unpack. To my surprise it was still the same but grandpa wouldn't have the heart to change it, I knew that. The unpacking took me half an hour and I put Yugi's birthday present in my pocket before walking back to the living room.

Yugi was watching a show on TV and grandpa was closing the shop, he closed it earlier today so we could all celebrate.

"Yami!" he shouted from downstairs. "Could you please make sure the table is ready, and could you take a look at the cake in the oven?"

I decided to go to the cake first, I didn't trust my grandpa's cooking skills completely but it seemed okay to me. It needed another twenty minutes or so, so Yugi and I were cleaning the table and putting plates onto it.

Grandpa came back upstairs to help us until suddenly we heard a knock on the door. "That must be Tea," he said.

Yugi was already running down the stairs and grandpa followed him.

"Tea!" I heard him shout and I decided to go downstairs as well.

"Hey there birthday boy." The girls voice was not like I expected, she didn't sound like a six-year old at all. She sounded like a young woman and somehow her voice seemed familiar.

"Let the girl breath," grandpa said while he laughed.

"I'm sorry Tea, I'm just so happy. All the people I love are right here," my brother exclaimed.

"Is that so?" The girl asked again. I was almost in the shop and I smiled too, knowing that my brother loved me.

"Yeah, my big brother came home about an hour ago."

She turned around when she heard my footsteps on the stairs and I looked in two beautiful blue eyes. Suddenly I could feel something inside of me, it was like a strange power and when I blinked the girl was wearing other clothes, Egyptian clothes. She wore a long white dress and there was a brown belt-like cloth around her waist, to accentuate her figure. Her clothes didn't seem very intact, they were a bit filthy but she looked beautiful in them. Her hair seemed a bit longer too, her skin was tanned but her blue eyes were still the same.

"Yami, this is Tea!" Yugi said while taking her hand and dragging her towards me. Yugi had pulled me out of my daydream and she was normal again.

She blinked a few times and looked down at my little brother.

"Yami Muto, the duel king is your brother?" she asked him. So Yugi and grandpa hadn't told her who I really was. Probably to protect me from all the fans in town but I would have to face them someday, since I was going back to school. I had followed lessons with teachers over the whole world since the Duel Tournament rules were that everyone under the age of eighteen needed education. We all got taught at the large arena's so we had to see a lot of things in little time.

I took a step forward and took her hand in mine to shake it.

"Yes, that's me," I finally said.

She smiled but suddenly she started sniffing in the air.

"Mr. Solomon, are you baking again? I'm think that something is burning."

"The cake!" he shouted while running up the stairs, leaving me with Yugi and Tea.

"So, why haven't you told me that your big brother was the most famous guy on the planet," she asked him.

"I don't know. I thought you knew because his surname was Muto and well, we kinda look the same. I thought you were smarter than that," he teased her.

"Says the boy who isn't even able to read!" She ruffled his hair and they both laughed, they were indeed like a brother and a sister.

"Hey, that's not true! I can read duel cards!"

"Because your grandpa told you what belonged with the picture." She rolled her eyes and took his hand while walking up the stairs.

"Are you coming, Yami?" My little brother asked.

I nodded and followed them. Even the way she walked seemed familiar to me, it was as if I had seen her walk all my life. Her voice was like an old melody, a lullaby and her eyes were of the most beautiful kind of blue I had ever seen.

"I think I was right on time," grandpa sighed while taking out the cake. A little crust was on top of it but it did seem good.

"Next time wait for me to come," Tea teased him while taking the cake out of his hands. She gently put it on the table and walked over to a cupboard and took out a big knife to cut the cake into pieces. It was as if she was at her own home, walking through her own kitchen.

"Tell me Tea," I begun, trying to start a conversation. "How does it come my little brother likes you so much?"

She looked over to Yugi and smiled. "I don't know, he is a real sweety and I used to babysit him all the time. I guess one day I saw through his annoying self and started to like him."

"Hey!" Yugi screamed. "I'm not annoying!"

"When you were a little kid, you were. You never wanted to sleep unless I held you in my arms or if you could sleep in my lap on the couch. I don't know why you always were able to make me go your way. Probably because you're so cute. Who could resist that lovely hair of yours and your violet eyes. I mean, even Blanchet can't look so sad as you can." She ruffled through his hair and they all laughed.

"Blanchet?" I asked.

"Tristan's dog. He's a friend of mine."

"I see. Does he go to school with you?" I wanted to know more about this girl and her life, and of course I wanted to know who my new classmates would be.

"Yes, Tristan is in my class. And so are Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler. Seto Kaiba is one of my classmates too, I guess you know him." She took a bite of the little piece of chocolate cake and seemed to enjoy it.

"Joey Wheeler, I think I remember him. He has a little sister with reddish-brown hair, doesn't he? The others I'm not familiar with but I know Seto Kaiba. His firm produces lots of equipment for dueling matches." I took a bite too and I must say that grandpa's cooking skills had improved.

"Yeah, but he's a bit cocky and he doesn't like anyone at all. Although Mai likes him, but that's just because he has a lot of money. I should warn you, she might come after you too and she's really beautiful, she has long blonde hair, violet eyes. She's tall, skinny and knows a lot about fashion." She looked down to her plate, pocking her food as if she was thinking about something.

"I like brunettes." I didn't know why I said it, it just flopped it out although I never really thought about hair colors before.

She looked up and me and smiled while trying to hide the little blush on her face.

**Tea:**

"It's time for your birthday presents, Yugi," Mr. Solomon said.

Yugi jumped up and down and leaded us all to the couch. A big wrapped box was standing on a coffee table and it seemed as if he wanted to attack the wrapping paper.

"Is this yours?" he asked his grandfather who nodded once.

He opened the big box and I could see one of the latest models of Kaiba Corp's duel disks. Yugi smiled and almost hugged his grandfather to death.

"I saw that you already had a deck so I decided to give you something to make it stronger," Yami said. He reached into his pocket and I could see the glimpse of a rare and strong card. The Dark Magician. I had seen Yami using it before but he had a purple one while the one he was giving Yugi was a red one. I could hit myself against the head.

"Whoa, thanks bro!" Yugi hugged his brother and reached under the coffee table to get his deck and he put the card on top.

"I guess mine isn't so good anymore," I said while shrugging my shoulders. I too took a card out of my pocket and gave it too Yugi.

"A red dark magician girl," Yami said. "There are only three…"

"Of them in the world, I know." I smiled but Yugi shook his head.

"I can't take this Tea, it's much too expensive," he said.

"Don't be silly, I got it just for you because I know you like the dark-type. It's a special card for my special little brother." He smiled and thanked me, hugging the air out of my lungs.

When he let go of me again a yawn escaped his lips and I looked on my watch, it was already ten o' clock.

"I guess you should go to sleep," I said to the little boy. He nodded, too tired to argue with me and gave us all a hug before walking to his bedroom, holding his new and improved deck into his hands.

"I should go too, Mr. Solomon, my mother is going to pick me up any minute now."

He smiled at me and hugged me before I walked down the stairs. Yami followed me and insisted on waiting with me outside until my mother came.

"Hey Tea," he said when we got downstairs. "Would you like to walk to school with me tomorrow?" His question came out of nowhere, but I didn't mind. It was nice to have some company.

"Actually I don't live in Domino City, I live right out of town."

He nodded. "I'll wait for you then, we can walk from there."

I smiled at him. "I would like that."

"I'll ask my grandfather where you live, he knows it, right?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, he and Yugi visit almost each Sunday to come over for lunch," I said.

He smiled and waved goodbye once my mother's car appeared around the corner.

**Yami:**

_I ran through an old building, the walls had a dusty, orange color and I could hear someone screaming. The further I ran, the darker it became and I felt water under my feet. When I looked down I was startled by my own reflection. I wore a white cloth around me and I had white shoes on. Some kind of gold jewelry, a crown, was on my head and it had the same emblem as my millennium puzzle. Another necklace was hanging across my chest, made from the same golden material as my wristbands and the bracelets around my legs. I heard a long scream this time, I was getting closer. A long purple cape flew with the wind I caused by running. Lights were getting closer and I ran into the room, seeing Tea in a dark corner of the room, while someone was hovering over her. She wore the same clothes as I had imagined her in when I first saw her but her beautiful blue eyes were now scared.___

_"Atem!" she screamed when the figure leaned closer to her face. Her eyes went blank and she fell down on the ground while an evil laughter haunted me in my head._

"Good morning everyone, it's seven o'clock and the sun is already shining on this beautiful Tuesday morning. It's still one week until the new…" the announcer on the radio said.

I was bathing in sweat although I was just wearing my boxers. Something in my dream had seemed so real, as if it was more a memory than my imagination and I took my millennium puzzle from my nightstand before walking to the bathroom to get dressed.


	2. Old legends

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.**

**Chapter two: Old legends**

**Tea:**

"Mom, did you see my white sneakers anywhere?" I yelled from out of my bedroom.

"They're in the bathroom honey!"

I ran across the hall, I really had to hurry since I overslept. School was about to begin in half an hour and it would take me 15 minutes to walk there. I put on my shoes as soon as I got them in my hands and looked at myself in the mirror.

"My hair seems like a bomb has exploded in it," I murmured.

I took a comb and started to comb my hair with one hand while brushing my teeth with the other. Suddenly the bell rang and I heard my mother opening the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here for Tea. She was supposed to walk to school with me since I'm new," the other person replied.

"Yami!" I shouted and I cleaned my mouth while running down the stairs.

My bag was lying on the couch so I picked it up, ran past my mother while giving her a quick kiss and closed the door behind me, trying to catch my breath. Yami raised an eyebrow and I put my hand in the air.

"I overslept."

He nodded and we walked to school, not really speaking to each other. I wanted to talk to him but my mind was somewhere else, I was already in school. I could see other people's reactions when they saw Yami, they all knew the duel king. As soon as he found some new friends he would stop talking to me. It made me sad but then again, I only knew him for one day and I could still visit Yugi, so there wasn't any problem.

I looked to my right and saw that Yami was lost in his thoughts too. He wore the school uniform, blue trousers and a blue jacket and the clacking of his black boots on the ground was the only sound I heard. His hands were in his pockets and his necklace jumped up and down with every step he took. Once we got closer to the center of town I could see loads of people and mainly children, trying to make it to school or work.

"Do I need to go to the secretary?" he suddenly asked.

"I guess so, since you're a new student. But I could wait for you if you want me to, I could lead you to your next class."

He nodded once and thanked me until I suddenly saw a violet convertible in the corner of my eye.

"Hey Tea, who's your friend!" she shouted while pulling over her car. We were already on the parking lot and of course we got a lot of attention now. Once Mai's car appeared almost every boy's head turned to look at her.

I could hear gasps coming from their mouths, Yami on the other hand didn't seem to notice or maybe he was already used to such things.

"O my," Mai said and I could already see the mountains of money in her eyes. "My name is Mai, Mai Valentine," she said with a seductive tone while putting out her hand.

"Yami Muto," the boy next to me answered without any sound of emotion. He took her hand and shook it, letting go after less than a second. "I've heard you were a friend of Tea's."

"O, so she already told me about you?" Mai seemed flattered but a little smile appeared on Yami's face.

"Yes, she did. But we have to go now, since I'm new I have to go to the secretary."

"I'll go with you then!" Mai exclaimed while taking her bag out of her car and showing her white teeth while smiling at him.

This was the thing I had been prepared for, every boy would want to be his friend, every girl would want to be his girlfriend and so I lost my new friend. I looked down to the ground while walking away from them until suddenly Yami grabbed my arm.

"I thought you were going to wait for me?" he asked.

"Mai will lead you around if you want her too," I simply replied.

He turned around to face Mai. "I appreciate the offer but I wouldn't want you to be late in class and since Tea already offered me to show me around I would like her to do so."

A hint of jealousy was in Mai's eyes but then she looked at me, from top to bottom and smirked. I knew what she was thinking, she thought that I would never be good enough for Yami so she had nothing to fear. I wanted to do something about that smirk but I stayed quit since she spoke.

"That's okay, I'll see you around." She blew him a kiss while walking away and Yami rolled his eyes as soon as she had turned her back.

"She really thinks she owns this place," he said while finally letting go of my arm. "Do all your friends look at you that way?"

So he had seen her look too.

"No, that's just Mai." I shrugged my shoulders while walking towards the secretary.

"Hey, that's Yami, the duel king!" Another student said and soon all his friends were around him, looking towards our direction.

"I'm sorry Tea, are you feeling uncomfortable?" He looked at me with his crimson eyes and something about them seemed so familiar. He didn't have Yugi's eyes, I was sure of that but still, there was something about them.

"A bit, but I don't mind. Sometimes I forget I'm walking to the most famous guy in the world, the Duel King."

He smiled. "You don't have to treat me different because I am."

"Maybe I should," I teased him. "O great king Yami," I bowed.

**Yami:**

I didn't know how to respond, she stood there in front of me and bowed. The action seemed so familiar, not because anyone had bowed for me before, it was she doing the action.

"O great king Yami," she said and suddenly she was wearing those Egyptian clothes again. The place we were standing in changed and I was back into the old, dusty room, it was like I was dreaming again.

She looked up and there was pain in her beautiful blue eyes, a pain I had never seen before. She stood up and put out her hand to touch my shoulder, which caused the view in front of me to change again.

Tea was standing in front of me, wearing her school uniform and her blue eyes were now concerned. I could see my own shocked expression in them.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded and told her we should go. She smiled faintly and lead me into the building. The hall was huge. Everything was white, the walls, the ceiling, the tiles. The lockers had a baby-blue color but I got interrupted looking at my surroundings by the people, whispering my name.

"What's that girl doing with him?" someone said. "Isn't that Tea Gardner?"

Tea seemed to be uncomfortable again and started to fasten her pace. I followed and when we walked into the next hallway the lockers were green. Suddenly she ran to the other side of the hallway, knocking on the door and hurrying inside while telling me to come with her.

A blond woman was sitting in an old chair, her black glasses focused on the screen in front of her.

"Yes?" she finally turned around to look at Tea and then her eyes rested on me.

"Yami Muto?" she asked, as if she thought I wasn't real.

"Yes, miss."

She regained control of her thoughts and looked back to her screen, clicking on all kinds of buttons until the printer started to work. A paper with a lot of squares and words came out of it and she handed it over to me.

"This is a list of all your classes, it seems you're following the same as Miss Gardner."

I thanked her and we both went outside to go to our first class, history.

"Guess you're stuck with me," she said while grabbing one of her books out of her locker. I wouldn't get one until next week so I was just going to bring everything with me.

"I'm not stuck with you, you're actually nice, Tea. Besides, you're the only one I know in this entire school."

She smiled at me and walked further through the hallways, telling me where our other classes were in the meantime. We finally arrived at our classroom and Tea knocked on the door. She went in, followed by me which caused a lot of the students to gasp again. They acted as if I was something special, I wasn't.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I had to go to the secretary with Yami," she said while walking towards her place.

"Yami Muto?" the teacher asked.

I nodded once and took a step towards him. He was still a young teacher, and he seemed foreign. He had blonde hairs and violet eyes, with a tanned skin. This and his accent told me he probably came from Egypt.

"You can call me Mr. Ishtar," he said while shaking my hand. "I am your teacher in history."

"Ishtar? Are you family of Ishizu Ishtar?" I asked him.

He gave me a questioning look and suddenly noticed my Millennium Puzzle. He gasped and took a step backwards.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to my necklace.

Everyone was now very interested and some of them leaned over there bench to see what was happening.

"This?" I asked while taking the Millennium Puzzle in my hands. "I got it from Ishizu when I was in Egypt for some duels, she told me it was a gift. That I had to take it with me, that it would do wonders."

"Ishizu is my siter," the teacher said. "And yes, this Millennium Puzzle can do great things, indeed. That is what the legend says." He smiled at me and told me that I could take a seat where I wanted.

I turned to face the classroom and almost every girl put her hand in the air, pushing the person next to them out of sight, this was embarrassing. Tea was sitting next to Mai who was also putting her hand in the air and screaming my name. The brown haired girl next to her raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. At the back I could see a blonde boy sitting alone, staring out of the window. He wasn't paying any attention to what was happening around him and I recognized him as Joey Wheeler. I stepped past every bench in the room and sat down next to him.

The sound of my chair caused him to look up and his eyes widened when he realized I was sitting next to him.

"Hey Joey," I said.

"Yami, is that you? I mean, it has been years since I last saw you. Of course I saw you on TV but we must've been six the last time..."

I nodded and remembered him bullying me, I wasn't very tall when I was younger so very easy to pick on.

"I'm sorry about what happened," he said with a blush of embarrassment on his face.

"No problem." We both turned around to look at Mr. Ishtar.

"Well, since Yami has the Millennium Puzzle I would like to tell you the story of the Millennium Items today."

Most of the students didn't seem really interested but I noticed Tea was sitting straight and staring at the teacher, so was I.

"There are seven Millennium Items in the world. The Millennium Puzzle, Eye, Ring, Scale, Key, Rod and Necklace. As you all noticed Yami has obtained the Millennium Puzzle. The Millennium Eye is in the hands of Maximillon Pegasus, the creator of the duel cards. The Millennium Rod is mine, protected by my sister who has the Millennium Necklace. The Ring, Scale and Key's place are still unknown to this day on."

A boy in the front row with purple hair put his finger into the air.

"Yes Ryo?" the teacher said.

"Excuse me sir, but how does this Millennium Ring look like?" He lifted up his shirt and revealed a necklace which had the same strange eye as my Millennium Puzzle.

"Where did you get that boy?" the teacher asked, suddenly very interested.

"My father went to Egypt and he bought it at a market. He has given it to me when he got back. I never really thought it had any value, but I wear it because it's my father's."

Before the teacher could continue Tea raised her hand. "Excuse me sir, but you said that the Millennium Puzzle could do wonders, what do you mean by that exactly, you seem a bit shocked now you've seen the Millennium Ring."

He looked over to Tea for one second but then looked back to Ryo, concern hiding in his eyes.

"It is said that every Millennium Item has his own power. The Millennium Puzzle," he pointed towards me, "was originally known as the Millennium Pendant. It was scattered into pieces and only the chosen one could make it whole again. Tell me Yami, did my sister give you a pendant?"

I shook my head. "No, it were just pieces. She told me that I should try to fix it, she told me I could. After almost two years I finally succeeded, it's in one piece for almost half a year now."

He nodded and continued, getting not only my interest this time. "Do you know what the hieroglyphs on your pendant say?" I shook my head.

"It says that the one who solves the puzzle will get the powers and knowledge of darkness. Legends say that a mighty pharaoh was in control of this puzzle and that he caused a spell on all the other Millennium Items, sealed with his own name. His soul still rests into the pendant until this day."

"Rubbish." I turned around and saw a familiar face, Seto Kaiba. His arms were crossed and he looked into the teacher's eyes, trying to intimidate him.

"These are only legends Seto, I'm sure that you haven't heard of them before. But one thing about this story is true, a mighty young Pharaoh had that pendant once."

"Have we learned about him?" Another student asked.

The teacher shook his head. "You haven't and you never will. The privilege to know the Pharaoh's name is only given to a few. So you will never learn about him."

Suddenly I remembered my dream, me wearing those Egyptian clothes and my Millennium Puzzle hanging down my neck, the name Tea screamed. _Atem._

"So, what does my Millennium Ring do then, according to the legends," Ryo asked, causing everyone to forget about the pharaoh.

"It is said that it guides the owner to whatever it seeks and to have a special bond with the owner. Two souls are locked into the Millennium Ring, two dark and evil spirits."

"Oh yeah, Ryo is really evil," a boy with brown hair said and the whole classroom laughed.

"That's Tristan," Joey suddenly said while pointing to the boy who just spoke.

"These are just legends, based on old tales. We don't know if anything of it is true," the teacher shrugged his shoulders and continued the lesson.

**Tea:**

"Yami?" I turned around to face him, he was walking towards the teacher's desk.

"I'll be there in a minute," he said.

I nodded and walked out of the classroom.

"Excuse me sir," he said to the teacher.

"Yes Yami?" Mr. Ishtar asked.

"It's about the pharaoh's name…" I didn't want to overhear their conversation but something told me that I had to wait, that he was going to say something important.

"I really can't tell you," he answered.

"So you know his name?" Yami asked. He sounded hopfull.

"Yes, why?"

"I was wondering, is his name Atem?"

It was silent for a few seconds until I heard Mr. Ishtar whisper something.

"How do you know?"

"I had a strange dream last night. I wore these strange clothes and my Millennium Puzzle, I was running through old hallways, trying to get to someone who was screaming."

"Who was screaming?"

It was again silent for a few minutes and right when Yami was about to say who, Mai suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Waiting for Yami are you?"

"That's none of your business, Mai." I wasn't planning on being nice to her, not after she tried to push me away when Yami was looking for a seat.

"Mad, are we? Come on honey, you and I both know you can't have Yami. I am the most popular and beautiful girl in school, he'll come my way sooner or later."

"I don't want to have Yami, I want to protect him from gold diggers such as yourself!" I shouted back at her.

"O please, every girl wants to be with the Duel King, do you know how much money he has?"

"I don't care about his money, he has a soul too you know. I just want to be his friend," I said.

"Of course, every boy in school wants to be his friend, and so does this little tomboy," she hovered over me with an evil glare in her eyes.

"Excuse me." Yami gently lay his hand on her shoulder and pushed her away from me. "Tea and I have to go to our next class."

Mai smirked and walked away.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"I couldn't help but to hear your conversation, I think the whole school heard you shouting," he teased me. "But I should say thanks to you."

"Why?"

"Because you said you wanted to protect me, that you don't care about my money, that you wanted to be my friend." He smiled faintly. I could see that his mind was elsewhere too and now I was cursing Mai for interrupting me. I could've heard what he had dreamed, but of course she had to come and ruin it.

"I meant that, really. But now we have to hurry because we're almost late for English!" I said while grabbing his arm and running through the hallways.


	3. Heart of the cards

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.**

**Chapter three: Heart of the cards**

**Yami:**

"So, do you like Tea?" I looked to my left and saw Joey running next to me. This was my least favorite subject, P.E. Especially running wasn't my favorite type of exercise.

"I guess so. She's really nice towards me and my little brother. But I guess she's like that to everyone." I shrugged my shoulders and mentally counted one lap to the other five after running over the finish line.

"Yeah, she is. But I meant if you really really like her."

"Oh." I hadn't seen that one coming, I liked Tea a lot, but there was something about her that I still needed to figure out. "I don't like her in that way. I only know her for one day."

Joey nodded and his eyes widened when Tristan ran by.

"Hey, how many laps did you run already?" he shouted.

Tristan slowed down a bit to respond before sprinting away from us. "Nine!"

"I really can't follow him. He is so fast, I mean, most people get seven or eight laps in fifteen minutes, he always get's eleven or even twelve."

I smiled at Joey, it was strange to talk about things like this, to be in school again. After all those years of dueling and competition it felt like a burden had fallen off my shoulders.

We started talking again, mostly about the teachers and classes since I was new and finally the teacher blew his whistle and we could stop running.

My hands were resting on my knees when I was trying to catch my breath.

"You two did good boys," he said to us while touching our shoulders. We nodded and went back to change our clothes, it was almost lunch.

"Hey Yami, can I ask you something?" the blonde boy asked.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to learn me how to duel? I always lose to Mai and she really thinks it's fun, I even lose to Tea! And Tea isn't a real good duelist…"

Before I could answer Seto stepped in front of us.

"Please Wheeler, you'll never be a great duelist. And you think _he_ could learn you how to?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Hey! I challenge you right know if you want me to!" Joey swung one fist in the air but Seto didn't seem scared at all.

"Dimwit, get lost. I want to battle you, Yami. A duel against you would be a real challenge."

**Tea:**

"I told you he was good, no he's the best!" Joey shouted when Seto almost ran me over. He seemed mad, but that wasn't the reason. I was just invisible to some people.

"What happened?" I asked. I had been standing in the hallway, waiting for them after our P.E. class.

"Yami beat Seto!" Tristan exclaimed and some people turned around.

"That can't be right, no one has ever beaten Seto Kaiba!" someone said.

"Yami Muto is the Duel King, do you think he has lost to anyone before?" Joey answered the boy who walked away, embarrassed.

Yami stood between Tristan and Joey shaking his head. I could already see those three becoming great friends and I was happy. Joey and Tristan would always have his back, if he needed them to.

"Calm down Joey, it was just a duel." Yami laid his hand upon his shoulder and smiled when he saw me. Somehow my heart skipped a beat when he did that and I turned around to prevent him from seeing my red cheeks.

"Hey, what happened to you?" he asked.

I had some mud in my face and hair since I fell when we were playing baseball. I was a bit ashamed but I didn't really mind, I wasn't someone like Mai who ran to the bathroom if she only had a drop of sweat on her face.

"Well well, if that isn't Tea." I turned around and Mai walked towards me, an evil smirk on her face. "You know, I always thought you were ugly, but not that ugly. Your filthy look isn't really today's fashion."

"And I guess you're about as smart as you look, bimbo." I crossed my arms and didn't expect to get a reaction back from her. Her hand slapped across my face and I could feel the burning on my cheek.

The boys were shocked and a part of me wanted to cry but I had to prove myself, I wouldn't let her get away with this.

"I want to duel you!" I shouted while pointing my finger into her face.

"You're weak Tea, you could never beat me." She laughed while whipping away an imaginary tear.

"I mean it, I want to duel you now!" I was getting angry and I had to hold myself from slapping her in the face too.

"Fine by me, prepare to lose."

I put my nose in the air and walked outside towards a table.

"Tea, this isn't a good idea," Joey said. "She'll beat you in no time."

"Joey, I can use a little bit more support than that!" I knew that Joey was in love with Mai but he was my best friend, no?

"We'll be right here for you," Tristan said and I smiled at him. Yami hadn't responded at all and he was just following us, crossing his arms and giving Mai some evil glares.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mai asked right before she sat down and made sure her skirt was alright.

"Yes." I gave a quick nod and pulled out my deck.

"My turn," she said. "I'll play this one in attack mode, Harpie Lady."

"I'll play Fairy's Gift, in attack mode."

Mai gritted her teeth, she had lost her Harpie Lady and also 100 lifepoints.

"Harpie Lady's brother, in attack mode!"

My Fairy's gift was easily defeated and I had to put my Magician of Faith in defend mode. I wasn't scared, I still had 1600 lifepoints left.

Mai took another card and she smirked even harder. "I play this card, Monster Reborn to get my Harpie back from the graveyard and I play Cybershield, which makes her attack points 1800. Attack that card!" I flipped it around so the special effect would work, when my Magician of Faith was killed I could call a card back from the graveyard and I chose Monster Reborn, it would come in handy.

"Gemini Elf, attack Harpie's brother!"

"I use Call of the Haunted!" Her Harpie's brother came back immediately and I could see Tristan frowning. "I use Rose Whip so my Harpie Lady, which makes her attack points 2100, now attack her Gemini Elf!"

"1400 lifepoints," I murmured.

"Tea, everybody makes mistakes, I suggest you don't make another one," Mai laughed.

I laid my hand upon my deck and wished for my one card that would definitely defeat her, I just had to put my trust in them. I took the card in my hand and smiled.

"I won't."

Mai seemed a bit surprised at first but started to laugh right after.

"You could never beat me Tea, you don't have a card that can!"

"Wrong. I use Monster Reborn to revive my Gemini Elf. I also uses De-Spell, so your Harpie's attack points will be reduced to 1300. Now I summon my Dark Magician Girl by sacrificing my Gemini Elf. Dark Magician girl, attack her Harpie!"

Mai smashed her fist onto the table when her lifepoints were reduced to 1200.

"You won't get away with this."

"I'm sure I will," I answered.

**Yami:**

Tea was determined to win and so she did. Mai on the other hand wasn't very pleased and she took Tea's Dark Magician in her hands.

"You won't be able to defeat me again," she said with an evil grin on her face.

I wasn't going to let this happen so I grabbed the card as fast as I could.

"You don't get it, do you Mai? Even if you destroyed her card, she could still defeat you. You rely on the power of your monsters and your spell cards but the truth is, dueling is more heart…" Before I could continue Tea ended my sentence.

"Than strength…" she whispered. I was imprisoned by her blue eyes, they were like an ocean. To hear her say those words was something different, it seemed even more true when she did.

"Why don't you two go somewhere else and leave me alone with your heart of the cards crap!" Mai shouted while walking towards the cafeteria to get her lunch.

"You won." Joey touched her shoulder to compliment her and I had the sudden urge to do the same.

"Am I cool or what?" Tea teased him and she got up, taking her deck.

"Yami, thanks but can I have my Dark Magician Girl back?" she asked.

I nodded and gave her the card, trying not to touch her skin. Of course I failed and I felt a little spark when touching her fingers. She had felt it too 'cause her hand jerked back.

"Sorry," I muttered while giving her the card and walking towards the building, trying to clear my mind.

The day had been strange ever since I got up. First I had this strange dream, then Mr. Ishtar told me about Atem. He had explained to me that my dream could be caused by my Millennium Puzzle, that I had a certain connection with the pharaoh. I didn't believe a thing of it but thanked him anyway and then I heard Tea arguing with Mai. Her words made my heart skip a beat, she saw me as a person, not as the Duel King. I wasn't supposed to have these feelings, was I? When Mai called her ugly I had the urge to defend Tea, but she was able to defend herself and she was a good duelist too. Maybe Joey was right, maybe I was starting to like her…

"Hey, Yami!" I turned around and saw Tea running after me. "Why didn't you wait for us?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I needed some time alone."

"I see. I guess it's strange for you to be around all these people when you've been traveling alone for almost three years. Do you want me to go?"

She seemed a bit unsure, not really wanting to leave and my heart skipped a beat once more. This was really getting out of hand, I barely knew her.

"No, I could use some company."

She smiled at me and took a tray while leading me to the different kinds of food.

"There are a lot of options. There is soup, a main course, snacks like pizza, sandwiches, all sorts of drinks, you can pick whatever you like."

She kept on babbling but I didn't mind, I liked it when she did, that way I didn't have to talk much.

"I'll take the pizza," I said between two sentences.

She stopped talking to smile at me and gave me a piece.

"I guess you want to sit at our table?"

Joey and Tristan were already sitting at a table, close to the window, arguing about something. Suddenly Mai sat down next to them and Tea stopped.

"You can go and sit with Joey and Tristan, I'll sit elsewhere." She turned around and walked away from me, I didn't like it when she did that.

"Tea, wait!" She froze and turned around, capturing me again with her blue eyes. "I spotted an empty table outside, so I suggest we should go there." My voice sounded rough so I cleared my throat. "If you'd like."

"Yami, you don't owe me anything, I'm a big girl. You can go and sit with the boys if you want to, it's not because Yugi likes me that you have to like me too." She faintly smiled and dropped her eyes.

"I like you because you are you," I said. I wanted to make that pain in her eyes go away. It was the same pain as in my dream, I just hadn't got a name for it, yet.

"That'll change. Mai liked me too in the beginning, but now look at her." She turned her face to look at the table she always used to sit at. "I'm used to this, it happens all the time when we argue. She goes to Joey and Tristan and then I walk away, trying to find a table for myself. The boys don't even notice I'm gone, I'm not like Mai, I'm not beautiful and rich, I'm invisible. Who would ever notice me next to her? I don't even remember why we're friends in the first place. All we do is argue." She looked down at her plate. "That's why you don't have to be nice to me Yami, I don't mind being alone."

She started to walk away again but I followed her, something that was not very like me. She put her tray on the empty table I had seen before and jumped in the air when I put mine down as well. Probably she had been too occupied thinking, so she hadn't paid attention to me, following her.

"Yami, I already told…"

"Tea, I don't want to hear it. I don't care if you don't mind, but I do. I don't want you to be alone." I was shocked at my own words, ever since my dream last night I felt protective when she was around, I had to protect her from everything and everyone that could harm her. I would protect her from her loneliness, from Mai, even from myself if I had to.

"Thanks." A slight blush appeared on her face and she tried to hide it by sitting down and looking at her tray, pocking some of her food.

**Tea:**

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Yami asked when we walked out of our last class. I was surprised by his offer, he had been nice to me all day, ever since Mai and I dueled.

"It's okay, I said," grabbing my books.

"I insist," he replied. He really was stubborn sometimes, but I didn't mind. If he wanted to get things his way, he could.

I nodded and he smiled at me, following me outside.

We didn't talk during our walk home, I had learned that he liked company but that he also liked some silence around him, and I appreciated his wish.

When we were almost at my home I started to look for my keys in my bag, suddenly realizing I was too hurried this morning to get them from the kitchen table.

"Damn it!" I shouted and Yami turned around to face me.

"What's wrong, Tea?"

"I forgot my key and my mother has to work until eleven today, I can really hit myself against my head now…"

"You can come home with me, we can do some homework and I'm sure Yugi would like it if you came over." He sounded sincere but I didn't want to be a burden.

"I don't know, I can go to my grandmother too, she doesn't live to far away." I smiled faintly and he nodded.

"If you prefer to go to your grandmother, I'll walk you there."

"Oh, no Yami, you've already walked at my place this far, you don't have to go with me to my grandma."

"Are you sure?" The look in his crimson eyes was concerned, as if he wanted to protect me.

"Yes, but thanks for the offer."

He nodded again and walked away from me, to my surprise he wasn't walking towards the bus stop.

"Uhm, Yami?"

He turned around immediately. "Yes, Tea?"

"Where are you going? The bus stop is that way." I pointed towards the other side of the street and he smiled a bit.

"Tea, I don't take the bus. I have a car you know."

I could slap myself in the face, of course he had a car. He was the most famous and one of the richest people on the planet.

"Would you like to take a ride?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "If you don't mind."

"Would I ask if I'd mind?" he said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes. "Come." He waved with his hand to indicate I should follow him.

"Why didn't you go to school with your car in the first place?" Maybe it wasn't polite to ask but I was curious.

"It would get too much attention, and I had a feeling you would feel uncomfortable if we arrived at school in my car."

Sometimes it felt as if he could read me like a book, that he knew certain things about me even without telling him.

"So where is your car then?" I turned my head to look at the street but I only saw a few cars until my eye caught a grey convertible. My eyes widened, this car would definitely get attention if you drove to school with it.

"I guess you found it," he laughed while unlocking his car with his key. The light flashed for a second and he walked towards it, opening the passenger door for me.

"What is it?" I slid my fingers over the hood while walking towards Yami.

"It's a Mercedes E-class cabriolet, the newest model. Do you like it?"

"Like it?" I asked while getting in the car? "I love it!"

Yami laughed again and slid next to me, putting his key into the contact. "So, do we go to school with the car then, tomorrow?" He asked casually.

I hadn't realized that he wanted to walk with me to school every day, but I didn't mind, actually I liked it.

"I guess. Everybody knows you by now, I wonder what Mai is going to do when she sees me in this car."

A smirk played around Yami's lips. "Let's make her a bit crazy, shall we?"


	4. A failed prank

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.**

**Chapter four: A failed prank**

**Tea:**

"Yami! You've got to be kidding me."

He stood there, in front of me, leaning against his car with his arms crossed. His blue jacket was open and I could see his muscles through his white, tight shirt. The Millennium Puzzle was shining in the sunlight and I looked at him from top to bottom. He was wearing sunglasses and had a smirk on his face, this didn't seem like Yami at all but he sure gave a new meaning to our school uniform.

"What are you doing?" I asked while walking down the steps.

"I thought we were going to fool Mai?" he asked with a teasing tone.

"But this doesn't look like you at all, you're not like this." I shook my head in disbelieve.

Suddenly he leaned closer and his lips were a few inches from my ear. "You know this isn't me, but she doesn't," he whispered. "But I must say that the sunglasses aren't really my thing but the rest of my outfit is exactly as I like it."

A shiver ran down my spine when he was this close to me. It felt right and wrong at the same time, as if a part of me wanted this but another part knew it would only end badly.

"Now, I have something for you too," he said.

He opened the door to his car so I could sit and then went to the other side, grabbing his bag. He opened it and after a few seconds he took out another pair of sunglasses, pink ones, and some bobby pins and a blue hair bow which matched the bow of my school uniform.

"Put this on." He handed me the sunglasses and then took the bobby pins and the hair bow. "Now, put these in your hair, I have to get something out of the trunk." He stood up and walked out of his car, still smiling a little.

"You like this, don't you?" I asked while doing my hair in a knot and adjusting it with the hair bow.

"Yeah, I never had the time to do pranks, I never intended to. But after what Mai did to you yesterday, I can't wait to wipe that smirk off her face."

He got back into the car, holding a shoebox into his hands.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Something that matches your jacket." He opened the box and I could see two pink pumps in the box.

"Aren't you being a little bit extreme? Everyone's going to notice me." I shifted from left to right, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Besides, they're brand new, they must've cost you a fortune."

"Tea." He laid his hand upon my shoulder. "I don't think a pair of shoes would do something to my bank account. Although the shopkeeper gave me a weird look when I bought these. And you don't have to worry, I'm right there with you, remember?"

"Maybe it's that what concerns me the most," I teased him while taking of my boots and putting the pumps on.

"Now, the final touch." He straightened my collar and told me to open my jacket, like his.

"Are you sure this a good idea?" I asked, still doubting.

"Do you want to get Mai of your back?" he asked while putting his key in the contact, ready to drive towards Domino High.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess so."

He smiled and we drove away, the wind ruffling through my hair and a few strands fell down my face. It was silent for a few minutes until Yami spoke.

"Grandpa asked if I could join him and Yugi on Sunday, when they're coming over for lunch."

"Of course you can come over, my mother won't mind. My father is a business man so he isn't home often, she likes to cook and she absolutely adores Yugi. She'll probably fall in love with you too," I teased him.

He nodded and a little smile appeared on his face. He was a happy person but not as happy as his brother, there was something different about him. He could be real serious, but towards the people he loved he was more open, it was like he had a mask to the rest of the world. Maybe it was because of the dueling matches he had in his life, you needed to be serious in a duel if you wanted to win.

We were almost at school and loads of people turned around to look at Yami's car. I stroke my fingers across the leather of my seat, I was still a bit astonished by the beauty of it. When we drove onto the parking lot I could see most students looking at us.

"Let the game begin," Yami said and I laughed when he pulled in.

Tristan stood a few feet further at his motorbike and was talking to Joey.

"Who's that?" I heard him say. His mouth hung open and when Joey turned around his bag fell to the ground.

Yami got out of the car and walked over to my side to open the door, he really had the manners of a gentleman. The sound of my heels clacking to the ground surprised me, it wasn't often I wore pumps and certainly not pink ones.

"Hey Yami!" Joey shouted.

He turned around while hanging his bag over one shoulder and putting his empty hand into his pocket. "Yes Joey?"

"Who's that babe?" he asked while blushing a bit.

"Joey!" I shouted. It was strange to hear him talk like that about me.

He took a few steps back and blinked a few times. "Tea? What are you doing?"

"Joey, calm down. It's just to fool Mai, it was all Yami's idea."

Tristan looked over from Yami to me. "Well, I guess it'll work you guys. But what exactly are you two planning to do?"

Right then Mai's car drove onto the parking lot and Yami started to walk away. "You'll see."

I followed him and we didn't say a thing. Lots of people were already going to their classes and so did we. Normally I would sit next to Mai but today was going to be different. Yami walked into the classroom while I walked further, waiting around the corner for Mai to walk into the classroom.

**Yami:**

Our plan would work perfectly, I was already amused when Mai entered the classroom. My sunglasses lay on the side of my desk and I was looking through the window.

"Who did you say that car was from, Joseph?" Mai walked into the room, followed by Joey and Tristan.

"Yami's of course." I smirked before turning my head towards Mai.

"Did you like my car?"

She looked down to me immediately and walked over to my desk.

"Of course I did Yami, it's really beautiful. I see you've dumped Gardner as your friend, so what about making me your new one?" She took the chair next to me and I laid my hand upon her arm.

"Actually this seat is already taken."

"Is it?"

She turned around when she heard the sound of heels coming closer and Tea walked through the door, still wearing her sunglasses.

Some of the boys in the classroom looked her way but she didn't pay any attention to them and that was probably for the best since she could start blushing any minute. She continued to walk through the classroom until she stood right behind Mai.

"You're late." I said.

Joey and Tristan were following the conversation from a few desks further than ours and were waiting for Mai's reaction, like everyone did.

Before Tea could say a word Mai turned around, her hands on her hips.

"I don't know who you think you are, honey, but no one can dress like that without getting me as an enemy." I could see the jealousy in her eyes and I had to hold my laughter. "I'm the most beautiful girl in school and I'll defend my title if you want to, I challenge you to a duel!"

Tea started to laugh. "Mai, you've already lost your title, since you've already lost to me."

Mai blinked a few times before stuttering her name. "T-Tea?"

She took of her sunglasses and smiled widely. "Yes? Now if you don't mind, I would like to take a seat." She passed Mai and sat down next to me, giving me a quick wink.

"You know Tea, your new look isn't really today's fashion either. You look like a bimbo yourself." Mai was already regaining her thoughts and was determined to mock at Tea.

I saw something snap inside of the girl next to me and I wondered if she was going to cry but she didn't, she just stood up and pushed with her finger against Mai's collar bone.

"Now you listen to me. I saw that look in your eyes, it was jealousy, and why on earth would you be jealous of me? Because you finally realizing that you're not as beautiful as you thought you were? If you hadn't got that car of yours and your attitude, you would be the same as everyone. You're not the only one who falls for money, all the boys in school do to."

"Please Tea. You know that isn't true, even if I didn't have any money or my car, I wouldn't be invisible like you are. Did you really think people are looking at you? They're looking at Yami, because he's the Duel King. Do you really think he's your friend? He's probably just acting nice towards you because you're friends with his little brother. You'll never be like me or like him. You'll be invisible forever, a loyal servant to people like us. We won't have to work hard for our money you know, we'll have people like you to kiss our feet."

Tea was shaking on her knees and she ran out of the room, trying to hide her tears. She was a strong person but everyone had its limits.

"Now we've got rid of that crybaby, let's concentrate on more important things," Mai said. She let her finger caress the desk and came closer to my arm but I jerked it away.

"Mai, has anyone ever told you how ugly you are?"

The whole classroom had been following our conversation and they had been whispering things to each other but now everyone was silent.

"What did you say?" She blinked a few times, not certain if I really had said that.

"I said that you're ugly. You don't care about people do you? Tea saw you as a friend and yesterday you said all those things to her, you aren't worthy a friend, you aren't worthy her. Besides, all these boys that are in love with you are fools, they just see you, they don't see your soul. But then again, they can't see one 'cause you don't have one."

I stood up and took my bag, walking away from the classroom, I had to find Tea right now. She was probably hurt and I didn't like that one bit.

**Tea:**

"S-stupid M-mai," I sobbed while taking the bobby pins out of my hair. I was standing in the restroom and looked at myself in the mirror. "She's right, I'm not beautiful, I'll always stay invisible. No one cares about me." I was still sobbing and took a piece of paper to blow my nose. A tear ran down my cheeks and I followed it until it hit the ground.

I froze to the ground when I could see an image in the wet spot my tear had left on the ground.

_"Teana, never forget that I'll always care for you."_ A boy who looked exactly like Yami said to me. He was wearing strange clothes and a golden crown was on his head, he seemed royal. His crimson eyes closed and I felt a pain deep inside of me.

"Atem," I whispered and I fell down on my knees while grabbing my heart to ease the pain. My tears came faster and were crashing down to the ground, making the image bigger, it was like I was falling into oblivion.

"Atem," I whispered again while taking his hand into mine and resting my head against it. "I promise I'll love you forever, my pharaoh."

**Yami:**

I ran through the building, trying to find Tea when I suddenly realized she would have probably gone to the restroom.

"Tea!" I shouted when I found her, lying on the ground. "Tea!" I touched her shoulder but she didn't react at all. "Tea, please, wake up."

She opened her blue eyes and I could see that pain again, like when I first met her. Her body was starting to shiver and tears ran down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her body and looked into my eyes.

"Yami?"

"Yes Tea?" I didn't know how to react, she seemed so fragile.

"Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that it hurt you like hell when you woke up?"

I knew exactly what she was talking about. I could feel the pain when I woke up after dreaming about her and that blank expression in her eyes, as if she had lost her soul.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"Because I just had one, it was awful Yami!" She started to cry harder and I wanted to take her in my arms to comfort her, but I didn't, I just couldn't. She seemed as if she had broken down so I had to do something. I really wasn't used to this, not after all these years of dueling and trying to stay strong. Her hurt made me feel my own hurt again, the hurt of losing my parents.

"Would you like to tell me what you dreamt about? Maybe it'll help."

She looked up into my eyes and shook her head. "It's stupid and embarrassing actually." She smiled a little and I smiled back, hoping that she would feel better.

"Come, I'll take you home." I stood up and pulled her back onto her feet.

"But we need to go to class," she said.

"It's Wednesday, we don't have to go to school all day. Tomorrow I'll tell the teachers you didn't feel well so I took you home."

She nodded and looked over her shoulder to the place where she laid down when I came in. I could see a little bit of water on the ground and it was as if it had captured her.

"Tea, are you sure you are okay?"

She turned her head to me and nodded. "It was just a dream, right?"

"Of course it was."

She smiled a little and followed me through the hallways while looking at the ground. Her dream had hurt her, that was for sure. Maybe she would tell me someday…

"Maybe I should go home, I feel tired." A big yawn escaped her lips and she placed her hand in front of her mouth, trying to apologize.

I nodded and she opened the passenger door, snuggling herself into her seat as soon as she sat down. She closed her eyes and sighed.

I shook my head, trying to get my eyes off of her and drove off the parking lot towards her home. She didn't spoke for the whole ride, probably she had fallen asleep again. When I looked at my right to check on her I could see that she was frowning, little drops of sweat forming on her forehead. I pulled my car to the side and spoke to her.

"Tea?" At first she turned her head and I thought she woke up but she was still frowning, her hands were now fists as she was trying to fight her dreams. I was about to wake her up until she spoke.

"Atem," she whispered while tears were rolling down her cheeks.

I froze in an instant, not realizing how she knew this name. Had she been dreaming the same thing I had dreamt?

"Mana, it's Atem," she said again. Her eyes suddenly opened and she had a frightened look in her eyes.

"Tea, are you okay?"

She looked at me and shook her head. "I don't want to go to sleep again," she murmured.

"Why?" I wasn't going to tell her she had spoken in her sleep, she would tell me when she was ready.

"This dream is hunting me, but this time it's worse…" Her body was shivering and she wrapped her arms around her once more.

"Let's go home, Yugi will be home soon."

She nodded and started to look outside again. I knew that she was hiding something from me, something important.

**Tea:**

"Tea!" Yugi shouted when he walked into the living room. He threw his bag to the floor and pulled in for a hug.

Although Yami and Yugi looked the same, they were two different persons on the inside. Yugi was the happy person, always in for a hug while Yami was the more serious type, but he cared for people too, I could see that. Especially for his family and maybe he cared a bit about me too, at least I hoped he did.

"Hey grandpa, where did you leave the mushrooms?" Yami was bending over to look into the fridge, putting all kinds of vegetables onto the counter next to him.

"I don't think I have new ones, maybe you should look into that cupboard." He pointed towards the one above the stove and Yami opened it, clearly finding what he was looking for.

"Hey big bro, what are you going to cook?" Yugi ran over to him and started to look at all the ingredients.

"I think I'm going to make a Ramen dish, it's been a while since I made one though."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "That's Tea's favorite dish!"

He turned around to look at me and I nodded. "Yugi's right."

Yami smiled faintly and continued cutting vegetables.

"Do you need some help?" I already stood up from my seat and walked over to the counter but he waved at me with the back of his hand.

"No, you can spend some time with Yugi."

"Hey Tea, why don't we make some cookies, the chocolate flavored ones!" the little boy said.

"I think I like that idea," Mr. Solomon said while rubbing his belly.

We all laughed but my laughter wasn't true. I was just hoping that those awful dream would go away. I didn't want to see him die, not again, it seemed too real.

My second dream was about the boy, Atem, he was trying to protect me from this evil spirit but he got killed in the process. I was leaning over his body, screaming his name when a girl walked inside, her name was Mana. Right after that I woke up, sweating like a pig. I was pretty embarrassed when I saw the concerned and shocked look in Yami's eyes.

In the corner of my eyes I could see him cooking, concentrating on everything he did and tasting of the food sometimes. A little smile played around his lips and I couldn't help but to smile too, that was until Yugi made a comment.

"Hey Tea, why are you staring at my brother like that?"

I immediately turned my head to look down at him. "I wasn't looking at Yami!"

"Yes you were."

I didn't want to turn my head and face Yami so I focused on my chocolate cookies. Yugi already knew how to make them since we did it all the time but he still needed my help with some things. When we finally put the plate in the oven he leaned closer to me.

"Now my brother's looking at you," he whispered.

I could feel my head turning red as I was crouching down to look at the cookies. I stood up in an instant and turned around, not realizing Yami was standing right next to me. Our faces were a few inches from each other and I could taste his warm breath on my lips.

"I'm sorry," he murmured and he went to the other side of the kitchen, taking something out of a cupboard and a big sigh escaped my lips.


	5. Hanging out

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.**

**Chapter five: Hanging out**

**Tea:**

Weeks had passed and things were getting better. Yami was one of my best friends by now and Mai seemed to have turned around. It wasn't our prank we tried to put on her that made her change, it were Yami's words. He hadn't told me about it but Tristan did, and I was grateful for having Yami as a friend. My strange dreams had disappeared too and I felt happy again.

I looked outside the window and I could see lots of people putting their jackets closer to their body. It was the second week of November but it had been announced that the winter would come early this year. Soon it was Mai's birthday and I had to buy her a present, since we were friends again.

"Tea! Table four's order is ready!"

I turned around to look at the cook of Burger World. This was the one thing that didn't get better, my job. I had been serving customers since the end of September and I had already grown tired of it, this was nothing for someone like me.

I took the two plates in my hands and put on my smile before walking towards the older couple. "Your order," I said while putting the plates down. "Would you like something to drink or can I help you with anything else?"

"No, thank you," the woman said.

I walked over to another table to clean it when suddenly a colleague was standing next to me.

"Tea, I need your help!" the blonde girl said. Her glasses reflected the lights above our heads, she sure kept them very clean.

"What is it Rebecca?"

"My grandmother's in the hospital, could you take my side of the restaurant too?" She used her puppy dog eyes on me and I couldn't refuse. Besides, there weren't much customers sitting at her side anyway.

"Sure, when does your shift end?" I asked while taking two empty glasses of the table back to the kitchen, Rebecca followed me to undress herself.

"Same time as yours, so you'll have to do it just one hour. I really appreciate you doing this for me, I owe you big time!" She shouted before disappearing at the back to go to the dressing room.

I put down the two empty glasses and went outside again with three new plates. I had to hurry now, since I had to look at more customers. In the corner of my eye I saw a young girl putting her hand in the air, making clear that she wanted the bill while at my right a boy put his hand in the air to get a coke. To occupied noticing these things and walking towards table number twenty-seven I didn't saw the lemonade that had just fallen on the ground and I could feel myself slipping down to the ground. I grabbed hold of the three plates and was prepared to hit the ground but I felt two arms grabbing me. I opened my eyes to look at my savior and to my surprise I looked into two familiar crimson eyes.

"Y-Yami?" I stuttered, a bit embarrassed.

"You have to watch out, Tea," he said while pulling me back onto my feet. I sighed, happy that I hadn't broken any plates.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I like hamburger and since Joey got hungry when we came back from a soccer match this afternoon we decided to stop here. Why didn't you tell us you were working here?"

Before I could answer I heard my boss shouting my name.

"Tea! Those people aren't going to feed their selves! Hurry up will you!"

I apologized to Yami and ran towards the other tables, trying not to get my boss mad at me.

**Yami:**

I was waiting for Joey because he went to the bathroom. He had been gone for a few minutes now and I decided to take a look at the menu. Hamburgers were my favorite food and I still couldn't decide which one to pick. The scraping of a chair against the ground got my attention and I looked up to face Joey.

"Did you know Tea worked here?" I asked while turning a page. There sure were loads of possibilities.

"No, she hasn't told me." He said while taking the other menu on the table.

"Strange," I murmured.

"Welcome at Burger World. What can I get you guys to drink?" I looked up and Tea was standing next to our table, holding a little notebook in her hands with a big smile on her face. She probably had to do this to every costumer she had.

"I'd like a coke," Joey said.

"Me too."

She nodded and ran off to the table behind us, picking up their plates and telling them she would bring the bill in a minute.

"I really don't know what to pick," Joey said while turning the last page of the menu.

"Me neither." We both laughed and suddenly Tea stood next to us with our drinks.

"Now, did you guys decide what to eat yet?" she asked while tapping her foot to the ground. She seemed a bit nervous.

"I'll take a cheese-burger," I said while giving her my menu.

"Make that two," Joey exclaimed while closing his.

"Coming right up!" She ran towards the table behind us once more and place the bill on the table while running of towards another table to take some empty glasses with her.

"She sure is hasty," Joey laughed.

It was indeed a funny sight to see, Tea running from table to table and then to the kitchen to run back with four plates in her hands. I looked around the restaurant to find only one other waitress, someone probably had a day off.

"Why didn't she tell us she worked here?" I asked Joey who was nipping his coke.

"This isn't actually her dream job, Yami. She's probably saving money to go to New York."

"New York?" Tea had never told me about this before.

"Yeah, since we were little she always dreamt of becoming a professional dancer. She really has it in her blood, it's like she's made to dance. Have you seen her dance already?"

I shook my head and wondered what it would look like if Tea danced.

"She took ballet and hip-hop classes but I think she can also do some Latin dances. And there is this strange dance that she found out, I've never seen it before, but hey, that's Tea."

"Joseph, were you talking about me?"

Tea was standing next to her table, holding two plates in her hands. She put the first one in front of me and the second in front of Joey.

"I just told Yami about your dancing skills."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have skills, it has been hard work to get this far, I really hope I can get to New York, I'm already saving money…"

"Don't be silly, I've seen you dance before you took classes, you were great back then and now you're just amazing, dancing is a part of you, Tea."

She smiled at Joey but turned her head when she heard an old woman screaming her name. I took a look at the woman and she seemed angry.

"Sorry guys, I have to go. Enjoy your meal." She darted off and started to run to the kitchen again.

**Tea:**

"Thanks for waiting." I sat down next to Yami and I let out a big sigh. That last hour of work had been too much.

"No problem, we don't mind giving you a lift home," the crimson eyed boy next to me said.

My eyes were closed but I smiled, I could really use a little nap.

"Is that Tristan?" Joey shouted. He jumped off his chair and looked through the window. I turned around and I could see him sitting on his motorbike, he had stopped to let a woman and her dog cross the street. A girl was holding his waist and wearing a helmet but I could see some brown-reddish hairs coming down from it. "I'll get that bastard!" He swung his fist in the air and walked outside but he was too late, Tristan already drove away.

"Was that Joey's little sister? Serenity?" Yami asked.

I nodded. "Joey doesn't like it one bit when her sister has a boyfriend but she and Tristan are really good friends but of course he's in love with her and Joey isn't that dumb. I guess he's going to run home now, to talk to his sister. We won't see him until tomorrow."

"Guess I'll have to pay then." Yami shrugged his shoulders and I nodded. I put my chair under the table and walked towards the counter.

"Can I have the bill for table seventeen please?"

My boss looked up to me and then to the table, her eyes widened. "Is that Yami Muto?" she asked.

I nodded. "The one and only."

"Tell him it's for free, really Tea. I'm a big fan of his, do you think I can get an autograph?" Her eyes were excited, I had never seen her like this before.

"Sure, I'll ask him. Hey Yami!"

He turned his head towards my direction and gave me a questioning look. I waved my hand and he stood up, his hands in his pockets while walking towards us.

"What's the problem Tea?" he asked.

"Do you know him?" The old woman in front of me screamed. I thought that she was going to faint like a teenage girl any minute now.

"I'm a friend of Tea's, yes," Yami said.

"Can I have your autograph, please?" She took a notebook from the counter and pushed it into his hands.

Yami let out a little smile and put his signature onto the yellow paper. "Now, how much do I owe you."

"Oh, nothing my boy, it is an honor that you chose to come and dinner here." She was looking at the paper in her hands and I thought she was going to kiss it and hug it as her best friend.

"I don't need a different treatment, I insist on paying for the meal." He took out his wallet and put some cash into her hands. "I think this will do."

Her eyes widened. "But sir, that's almost the double of what you have to pay me!"

"If you promise me that you're going to be less mad at Tea, you can have it," he said.

She looked over to me and back to him, nodding her head in agreement.

**Yami:**

"You didn't have to do that," Tea said when we walked outside the restaurant.

"I know, but I wanted to."

She smiled faintly and followed me towards my car, sliding her fingers at the hood. She always did this and I liked it that she loved my car. Every time she saw it, it was like she saw it for the first time, she admired it.

"You know that Mai's birthday is next week, right?" she asked.

I nodded. "Joey told me something about it, he's looking for the perfect gift."

"I have to buy a gift too and I just got my paycheck today, would you mind dropping me off at the mall?"

"No, not at all. I can pay half of it if you'd like me to. I really have no idea about what to buy her, doesn't she already have everything she can possibly have?"

"Yeah maybe that's a good idea. I don't get paid that much," she said.

The last couple of weeks Tea had become a real good friend of mine. Every Sunday we would visit to have lunch with her and her mother and every Wednesday she came over to bake cookies and watch movies with me and Yugi. She seemed happier now everything was okay again with her and Mai and she didn't have those strange dreams anymore, neither did I.

She didn't speak a lot during the drive, she knew I liked these silences. The truth was that I didn't mind those silences, I just enjoyed them when she was with me, but I wouldn't tell her that. It was as if she had an aura around her that made me calm down.

When we arrived at the mall it was a burden to find a parking spot but after about fifteen minutes I finally found one.

"Maybe we could buy her a card to add to her deck," she said while closing the door behind her. "I know this shop where they sell a lot of new cards. On the other hand we could buy one at your grandfather's shop but I don't think he has a new edition of harpies anymore since Mai always goes to buy them. Maybe we'll have more luck here."

I nodded in agreement and followed her into the big mall. There must've been thousands of people, walking into stores and walking out of them. Little children where holding their mother's hand to not get lost in the maze and some of them dragged their parents towards a shop where they sold toys, trying to make clear they wanted something new. In a way it was strange to see this children, I could remember when I was little, I did the same thing with my mother and father but Yugi would never be able to do so…

"We're here," Tea interrupted my thoughts. We went into the shop and it was much bigger than my grandpa's, we sure had to find something here.

"Excuse me," Tea said to one of the employees. "Do you have a new edition of Harpie Ladies?"

The man shook his head. "The latest model is from last August miss, but I could show you some other cards." Tea followed him and I started to notice that people in the shop were staring at me. We were in a duel cards shop, of course the people who came here knew lots of things of dueling, they would definitely recognize me.

"Aren't you Yami Muto?" a young woman's voice asked. Her red hairs were in a high ponytail and she walked towards me.

"Yes."

A twinkle appeared in her eyes. "My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam," she said with a seductive tone. "So, what brings you here, the Great Duel King?"

"Yami, I've found one!" Tea turned around to face me, holding a card in her hand. The employee next to her suddenly noticed who I was and his eyes widened. Tea's on the other hand dropped when she saw the girl standing very close to me. It seemed as if she was jealous, no not jealous, disappointed.

"Excuse me," I said to the girl. Her face dropped a bit when she saw I was walking towards Tea but I didn't mind, I didn't even know this girl.

"Which card did you pick Tea?"

A big smile was across her face when she realized I left the girl.

"I chose this one, it's an Amazoness Chain Master, she does look like Mai, don't you think? And it's a pretty strong level 4 card."

I took the card in my hands when suddenly someone tapped onto my shoulder, it was the red haired girl again.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" she asked.

In the corner of my eye I could see a bit of hurt in Tea's eyes and my heart skipped a beat. Did she really care this much about me?

"I'm already on a date with her." I took one of Tea's shoulders and smiled at her, seeing her smile back at me.

"Oh," Samantha said and she walked out of the shop.

"Sorry Tea, I had to come up with something," I said while giving the card to the employee.

"It doesn't matter." She shrugged her shoulders and followed the man to pay for the card.

**Tea:**

"Yami look!" I pointed towards a DDR-machine while we were walking through the arcade in the mall. We decided to go there since we had nothing else to do. "Would you mind if I played?"  
He shook his head and stood next to the machine when I started it. After a few minutes I could finally begin and I started to dance.

"I guess it seems pretty lame to you," I said to him. He was watching every step and turn I made.

"No, not at all. It's quit amusing."

I smiled at him and continued to focus on the game, I was really getting into it and didn't notice a small group of people was watching me.

"She's going to break the record!" a little boy shouted and after another five minutes I indeed broke the record. A dumb sound came out of the machine and my audience clapped. I could recognize two faces in the maze.

"Tristan?"

Yami looked to his left and he could see him too, standing next to Serenity.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked while giving them both a hug.

"Serenity wanted to go to the mall so I decided to give her a lift," Tristan said.

"Yeah, we've seen you two, but I should warn you, Joey has too…"

Tristan got a scared look in his eyes and hid himself behind Serenity who started to laugh.

"Calm down Tristan, Joey isn't here. He saw you guys when we were at Burger World, I guess he's home, waiting for you," I laughed.

"Hey Serenity, would you mind if I dropped you off a few houses further? I really don't want Joey to yell at me," Tristan said.

"Sure, but I really don't know why he's mad, you're my best friend." She stood on her tip toes and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. She was the only one who didn't seem to notice Tristan's feelings. She was two years younger than, she would become sixteen in April but she seemed a lot older, she was more mature.

Yami and I both started to laugh when we saw him blushing and we decided to take a look at the other games with the four of us. It was a great day and I enjoyed hanging out with my friends.

"I guess I'll take you home, your mother probably has dinner in a couple of minutes," Yami said after he looked at his watch. "It's almost seven o'clock."

We said goodbye to Tristan and Serenity and walked towards the car to go home.


	6. Coming over for lunch

** Sara Darkotter: This chapter will explain why Tea reacted like that when Sam was talking to Yami.**

** Elle-L: I'm updating so often because I absolutely have NO idea where this story is going. So, I'm writing to find out, since everything just comes out when I'm writing. **

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade. I also used some quotes of season one because I like them, and no, I don't own them either.**

**Chapter six: Coming over for lunch**

**Tea:**

"Yami!" My mother shouted when I opened the door.

"Hello to you too, mom," I said sarcastically and we started to laugh.

"Yami dear, would you like to join us for dinner?"

I turned around to face him.

"No thank you Miss Gardner, my grandpa made dinner too." He was always being polite, especially to people who were older than him. It was remarkable that although he was rich, he acted as if he wasn't, he wasn't cocky at all.

"Tell him I send him my regards. And give Yugi a hug from me!" She shouted while walking back into the kitchen. The sweet scents of smashed potatoes was hanging in the air and I realized I had been hungry.

"See you tomorrow Tea."

"Yeah, goodnight Yami."

"Sweet dreams."

I watched as he walked towards his car, his hands in his pockets. It was starting to become his trademark but I liked it that way. The truth was, I liked everything about him. When we were in the shop and the girl started to talk to him I had been disappointed, I wanted him to be with me. The girl was much more beautiful than me and she clearly liked him, I thought he was going to talk to her but somehow he came back to me. Probably it was just because we were friends but I couldn't stop imagining how it would be if things were different.

I shook my head, I shouldn't think about us like that, he was just a friend, nothing more. As soon as Yami drove away I closed the door and walked over to the table. My mother had put the potatoes already on it and I started to put them on my plate. I sure liked it when Yami told the girl we were on a date, I would love to go on a date with him…

"Tea honey, are you okay? You're sitting there, just pocking your food," my mother said. Her hand lay upon mine and when I looked up she gave me a concerned look.

"There's nothing wrong mom, I was just thinking." I put a carrot in my mouth and started to chew.

"Thinking about what?" my mother asked, she could be really curious sometimes.

"Nothing important."

"You were thinking about Yami, weren't you?"

I turned my head and stared at her in shock. My face was getting redder every second and I looked at my plate again.

"Guess I was right," she giggled. "He's a sweet boy Tea and very polite. This boy actually has manners. Maybe you two should give it a chance, you're friends, aren't you?"

"Mom! It's not like that at all. We're friends indeed, but nothing more."

"If you say so, Tea, if you say so."

**Yami:**

I stretched my limbs and fell down onto the bed. It had been a long time since I had walked that much. Going through the mall with a girl was a bit too much for me.

A big yawn escaped my lips and I turned around while pulling the blanket over me. It was really cold for this time of the year and I could feel the temperature had already changed in my room.

I closed my eyes and the first thing I saw was Tea, dancing on the DDR. Joey had been right, she was indeed a very good dancer. Tomorrow we had to go there for lunch, and I had to take a shower in the morning.

I turned back around to touch some buttons on my alarm clock. I still had eight hours to sleep so I closed my eyes again, catching a glimpse of the full moon outside and drifting off in a dream.

_"Mana, where are you?" I ran outside since I hadn't found her inside the building._

"I'm here!" I looked up and saw that she was sitting on a statue. She jumped off and landed softly on the stones beneath her. Her brown hairs ruffled with the wind and she adjusted her hat when she stood next to me.

"My father wouldn't like it if he saw you sitting there, that's the statue of an important god."

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just a statue Atem, I'm not actually sitting on the god's head."

"There you are." We both turned around to face Mahad, our master. His long white cape flew after him. "The celebration is going to begin in a few minutes, Pharoah and I suggest you hurry up too, Mana."

She nodded and ran back into the palace. A little blush appeared on Mahad's face when she ran by.

"Master, there is nothing wrong with you liking Mana. She's only four years younger than you," I said.

He looked down to me. "I don't like Mana!" he shouted. We both started to laugh and walked through the palace. This part was only available for members of the royal family and their servants. Mahad and Mana needed to serve me and my father too, but I didn't think of them like my servants, they were my friends. We walked further and candles lit up the walls, I could see a drawing my mother once made and a little smile appeared on my face. She had died a few years ago and I still missed her, each and every day.

As soon as I opened the doors to the room where all celebrations were held I could see my father, sitting on the throne. Loads of people stood at the sides, making sure there was enough place for the ceremony in the middle of the room. Most of them were dressed in beautiful clothes and wore every gold jewelry they had but there also were some people with normal clothes, our servants. They were making sure everyone was having a good time and had something to drink. Mahad and I walked towards him and I gave him a kiss on his hand.

"Father," I nodded.

Mahad bowed. "Pharoah Aknamkanon."

"Are you two ready for the festivities?" he asked.

We both nodded while I took a seat on the throne next to him. Mahad leaned against a boulder and stood close to me and my father, ready to protect us.

"We will start with the ceremonial dance!" Mana shouted to the room. All the people went silent and I looked through the maze to see my uncle Aknadin and his son, priest Seto. They nodded towards me and I nodded back. Mana came over to us and stood right next to Mahad.

Suddenly all kinds of dancers walked into the room, doing our famous ceremonial dance. They wore white clothes of course and golden bracelets, especially made for this dance. Their white shoes made the dust fly into the air every time they touched the ground. Most of the time I thought this was the boring part, I only wanted to see the dueling and magic, but this year something was different, a girl caught my attention. She moved to the music as if she was a swan, she almost flew through the room. Every move she made was so elegant it was impossible not to notice her.

"Who's that?" I asked Mana. She knew almost all the girls in the palace.

"Which one?" she asked.

"The one with her long brown hair and her blue eyes," I whispered. It was strange to see blue eyes, it wasn't very common here in Egypt. Most people were afraid of them and thought they were children of the devil, but I didn't believe in such stories.

"Oh, that's Teana. Her parents died in an awful storm about a year ago. She has been trained to become a loyal servant ever since that day. She's really nice, especially to the little ones. It's like she's a big sister to them instead of a mentor. I haven't seen other's doing that before, most of the time they just let the children follow them with whatever they need to carry around but when one of them is tired, she takes the child onto her shoulders so it can rest. She's a caretaker."

The music stopped and the dancers all bowed onto their knees in front of us. My father and I both clapped to show we thought it was very beautiful. But he clapped for the dance, I clapped for the beauty of the girl, Teana.

"Today it's Sunday, the 15th of November and it's eleven o' clock. Kaiba Corp. has announced that their new…"

I put out my hand to hit my alarm clock. My dream had been so real, but it was probably just my imagination that had gone crazy. I opened my eyes, suddenly realizing it was much later than I thought. I was sure I had set my clock at nine o' clock.

I ran out of my room, towards the bathroom and turned the water of the shower on.

"Gramps, when do we leave?" I shouted to the door.

"In half an hour!" he answered.

I ran back to my room to take some clothes, a black jeans, a grey sweater and a red jacket. I would search my red sneakers later, they were probably somewhere downstairs. I jumped into the shower and started to wash my hair at a super speed. It wasn't like me to be late, I never had been late before and I wouldn't start today. As soon as I was clean I jumped out off the shower again, brushing my teeth with one hand and drying my hair with a towel with the other.

"Yami, are you almost ready? We're leaving in ten minutes," Yugi said while opening the door a few inches. "Why are you late anyway, I thought you were going to get up at nine."

"I don't know kiddo, I just overslept, I didn't hear my alarm clock. Next time, come and wake me up, okay?" I pulled my sweater over my head and adjusted my sleeves.

"I tried to wake you up but…" an evil grin played onto my brother's lips.

"But what?"

"You were talking in your sleep. It's Tea you know, not Teana," he giggled. "Hey grandpa, Yami dreams about…"

I put my hand onto his mouth. "Why you little!" He got out of my grip and ran out of the bathroom, followed by me. "Come back here!"

"Uhm Yami?" we both turned around to face our grandfather. "I hope you're not going like this."

I looked down and noticed I was just wearing my sweater, boxers and socks, it must've been a funny sight.

"Now don't you tell anyone about this, or I'll tell all your friends in school you still sleep with a teddy bear," I whispered into my brother's ear.

"That's so not fair!" he shouted and we both started to laugh.

**Tea:**

"Come in, come in," I heard my mother say.

The rain was hitting my bedroom window and I was still combing my hair. A few seconds later I ran downstairs to greet Mr. Solomon , Yugi and Yami. As soon as I got downstairs they started to laugh.

"What?" I raised eyebrow when seeing their expressions.

"You're the opposite of me," Yami said.

I looked at him and noticed that he was right. He wore a black pants, grey sweater, red jacket and red sneakers while I wore a red skirt, a grey shirt, black sweater and black shoes.

My mother turned her head to wink at me and when she passed by she whispered something into my ear. My head turned red in an instant and of course, Yugi noticed it.

"Hey Tea, why are you blushing like that?" I looked down to him and smiled.

"I'm not blushing, it's just hot in here."

"So, does that mean you think my brother is hot? Because you weren't red in your face before." I could hit him against his head.

"Yugi!" I said while hiding my face from Yami who chuckled. "Can I take your jackets?" I asked, still not looking towards Yami. I ran to the closet in the hall while the men continued their way towards the dining room.

During the whole meal I still didn't say a word to him and I just ate my food, looking to my plate.

"Tea honey, you're so silent?" my mother suddenly asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong mom, really."

She smiled at me and I caught a glimpse of Yami before returning my gaze at my plate. He had been staring at me, he probably wondered why I didn't talk to him. It was just because of Yugi, actually I thought Yami was hot. He was a head taller than me and he was slightly muscled but it were his crimson eyes that captivated me.

"Tea, I was wondering. Since when do you dance?" His question caught me by surprise and now I looked up into those eyes of them.

"Ever since I was born, I guess. Since when do you duel?"

"Same," he answered and we both laughed, not that it was funny, it was just good to laugh sometimes, it lightened up our spirits.

"It is storming outside, shouldn't you guys wait until the storm is over?" my mother said when she looked out of the window.

Mr. Solomon followed her gaze. "Maybe we should, I don't like to drive in such weather and I don't think it's worth the risk."

Yami agreed with his grandfather and my mom and I returned to the kitchen to do the dishes.

"Why don't you go and sit with my grandfather, Miss Gardner." I turned around to see Yami talking to my mother. "I'll help Tea to do the dishes."

"You don't have to help me, you're my guest," I said to him as soon as my mother walked to the living room.

"Tea, I don't mind." He took a towel and started to dry some glasses.

"Are you sure?" I turned around to face him, but in my movement I splashed some water over my sweater. "Damn it," I murmured and I decided to take it off, before my shirt got wet too.

Yami just continued and looked the other way to give me some privacy.

"Would you mind if I put on some music?"

He shook his head and I walked over to the radio, there was a still a CD in it so I decided to play it. An old melody came out if it and Yami turned around.

"I think I know that song, where did you get it from?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's my dad's, he brought it with him a few years ago, after a trip to Egypt. I like it because it has a calming sound."

He agreed and we went back to doing the dishes. The rain was still hitting the window in front of me and I wasn't really paying attention anymore. I concentrated on the rain and when another song came up I started to slightly move my hips and humming the melody.

I took some dry plates from Yami's side of the counter and danced over to a cupboard. Suddenly I realized Yami was looking at me and my face turned red.

"Sorry, I just like this song."

"No problem, I like to watch you dance." He blushed a little but turned around to take some glasses I just cleaned.

After about fifteen minutes we were ready and when I wanted to turn off the radio my favorite song came up. My hips started to move as if they had their own life and so did my arms, I almost flew to the kitchen when I hit Yami who gave me a dumbfounded look.

"Would you like to dance?" I asked in a teasing tone. He just nodded and somehow he was able to pick up the moves, as if he had seen this dance before or even practiced it.

"Hey, where did you learn this?" I asked.

"I don't know, I'm just able to dance onto i-iiiiiiiiiiiiit." He suddenly slipped over a wet spot on the floor caused by doing the dishes and he took me with him.

I landed onto his chest and looked up into his beautiful eyes. "Sorry," I murmured and suddenly the kitchen door swung open.

"Group hug!" Yugi shouted when he saw us and he jumped onto my back, hugging me closer to Yami's body.

We all started to laugh but I could still see the little blush onto Yami's face, it resembled mine.

"What are you guys doing?" My mother and Mr. Solomon stood in the doorway, looking at us.

"Don't you see, we're hugging!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Yugi, get off of Tea will you. The girl seems squeezed between you and your brother," Mr. Solomon laughed.

"Oh, sorry Tea!" He jumped off my back and I crawled onto my knees, trying to get up but falling back downwards as soon as I slipped.

"Stupid water!" I grumbled. "Sorry Yami."

This time I got up carefully and put out my hand to get him back onto his feet.

"O my, Yami you're whole back is wet. I'll go and look for a shirt dear."

My mother ran upstairs and Yugi and his grandpa left to go back to the living room.

"Your brother really is something," I said and he nodded his head.

"Tea?"

"Yes?"

"You have something here." He put out his hand and wiped something from the corner of my lips. "I think it was some soap, it's probably hanging all over me, isn't it?" He laughed.

I nodded, too paralyzed to do anything else. His touch had been electrifying.

"Hey, are you guys coming?" I heard Yugi shout and I ran towards the living room before I lost control of myself and had the urge to touch Yami too.


	7. Playing tricks on me

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Chapter seven: Playing tricks on me**

**Yami:**

Ever since I got home, there was only one thing I could think about. It was Tea, and her dance, it was the same dance as in my dream, at least I thought it was. Probably it was just my imagination and my mind was just playing tricks on me.

It was already eleven o'clock and it was still raining outside. Yugi and my grandfather were already asleep, but I wasn't tired yet. When I walked through the living room I found Yugi's deck on the table. I sat down on the couch and looked at the cards, they were pretty good, probably my grandfather had given him a few. I found Tea's Red Dark Magician Girl and held it in my hands.

"Mana," I whispered. Of course, that was the reason, my mind was really playing tricks on me. My dreams weren't real, it were just duel monsters. Mana represented the Dark Magician Girl while Mahad represented the Dark Magician.

I shook my head and laid the cards back onto the table. Mr. Ishtar's story just got in my head and now I was imagining strange things. Probably Ishizu had told me something about Atem, because she thought I was the chosen one, to make the Millennium Puzzle in one piece again and Tea had heard me saying the name when waiting outside. Yeah, that was the right explanation.

I stood up and went to my room, I had to go to school tomorrow so I could use some sleep. I stripped down to my boxers and cuddled myself into my blanket.

"Maybe I should wear a sweater tomorrow instead of shirt." A big yawn escaped my lips while the ticking of the rain became a lullaby.

_I was sitting in the garden, Mana and Mahad were out to do some training so I was all alone in the palace and I was bored to death.___

_"Master," a young woman said.___

_I turned around and my heart skipped a beat, Teana was standing right behind me. Her brown hairs were ruffling in the wind and her eyes were a different kind of blue now that she was standing into the shadows of the building.___

_"Yes?"___

_"Could you use some shade?" She was holding a big leaf but I waved at her with my hand.___

_"I would like you to come and sit with me."___

_Her eyes widened in shock. "I can't do that, master." She bowed and wanted to walk away from me, going to do another task.___

_"I insist, Teana. I wouldn't like to demand you." I couldn't hear her footsteps anymore so I assumed she had stopped.___

_"Yes, master." She turned around again and sat down next to me on the ground.___

_"Mana told me you've lost your parents."___

_She nodded and I could see she didn't want to talk about it. But I just had to know more about her, I wanted to take a look in her soul.___

_"I lost my mother too, so I know what you're talking about."___

_Her blue eyes imprisoned me when she looked at me and a little smile was on her face.___

_"I heard that you're a caretaker, especially for the little children."___

_"Mana didn't tell you I had a little brother, did she?" She turned her head once more and started to look at the garden. A big sigh escaped her lips and she closed her eyes, enjoying the little breeze. It must've been strange for her, living in the palace and being a servant. She was free, but my family had taken her freedom. Then again, where would she have ended up if we didn't?___

_"What happened to him?" I was even more interested now, the way she said 'little brother' was strange to me. It sounded full of pain and regret.___

_"He died too, I wasn't able to save him." Her eyes dropped down to the ground, she was looking at her feet. "I miss him even more than my parents. Could I say something, master? But don't get offended please."___

_"Yes, and no, I won't."___

_"He looked a bit like you, he had the same dark red hairs and blonde strokes but he had violet eyes. He was a happy kid, he always wanted to play and make fun, he had the ability to cheer everyone around him up. He was my little angel."___

_I couldn't stand the pain in her words, I wanted to make it go away. "I'm sorry." I laid my hand upon her shoulder and she stood up onto her feet immediately, startled by the sudden touch.___

_"I have to go now, master." She bowed and almost ran inside the building, leaving me alone once more.___

__

_"Atem!" I heard my father scream. I was still lying in my bed, somehow I had overslept. I pulled the sheets of my chest and stretched my arms.___

_The door opened a few inches and I could hear my father talking to someone.___

_"If you see Pharaoh Atem, tell him that Mana and Mahad are looking for him."___

_"Yes, Master," the person answered. I could recognize her voice immediately and she waited to come in my room until my father left.___

_The door now opened and she had some new sheets in her hands. As soon as she saw me sitting in my bed her hand wanted to close the door again. "I'm sorry, master. I didn't know you were still in your room." She bowed but right before she closed the door I called out her name.___

_"Teana!"___

_The door opened a few inches and she looked to the ground, clearly trying not to look at me. I could feel a smirk appearing on my face. So, she was shy in my presence?___

_"Yes master?"___

_"Come in, please. I don't mind. I'll go and put on some clothes first."___

_She nodded and turned to face the door to give me some privacy. I stepped out of my bed and went over to a separate room where my clothes were. I took my crown and put it on my head and walked into my room again while trying to put on my necklace.___

_"Do you need some help with that, master?" she asked.___

_I smiled at her and she smiled back, putting the sheets onto my bed. She walked over to me and took the golden necklace out of my hands.___

_"Can you turn around please?"___

_I did as I was asked and as soon as her soft fingers touched my bare skin an electric shock went through my body. She gently put the necklace on and stepped back one step when she was ready.___

_"Mana and Mahad are looking for you, master." She walked back to my bed, taking off the sheets to put on the new ones.___

_"So I heard, thank you."___

_Her body suddenly froze and so did mine, I wondered what had happened.___

_"Teana, are you alright?"___

_"You thanked me," she whispered almost so silent I couldn't hear her.___

_"And?"___

_She turned around to look into my eyes but it seemed as if she was looking into my soul. Although her eyes were so bright, I could never get a glimpse of hers, she hid it well.___

_"I am your servant, you don't need to thank me, master."___

_She was right, she was my servant but I didn't saw her that way, she could never be my servant, she was more to me, she deserved to be more than that, she deserved to be a queen.___

_"I want to ask you something."___

_"Yes, master?" She was still looking at me and somehow it felt hard to breath but it felt good to be in her presence.___

_"I would like you to join me on a little walk."___

_She looked at her feet and shook her head. "Can I refuse?" she whispered.___

_"You can't." She looked up to me again and I could see pain, hiding in her eyes. I didn't know why she had that pain, but I was determined to find out."But I'll let you."___

_I walked towards the doors and right before I opened it she spoke again.___

_"Why? Why don't you demand me?"___

_"Because," I turned around to face her, "I don't want to."___

__

_"Are you sure you don't want someone else to come with us, master?" she asked. Teana walked next to me, holding some of my clothes in her arms.___

_"No, it'll be just fine. I just need some refreshment."___

_"Yes, master," she said while nodding her head.___

_"Atem, Teana. Atem." I didn't like it when she called me her master, I didn't like it at all. Sometimes I wished she saw me as a person and not as a Pharaoh, like Mana and Mahad did most of the time. I wanted her to be my friend.___

_We walked towards one of the pools, they were very rare here in Egypt but of course there was one in the secret garden of the palace. No one was allowed to go there, no one but the royal family and of course, their servants. My father took some with him to cool him down or to make sure he had some shade but I didn't, I took her with me because I wanted her to be with me, but I didn't tell her that. If she didn't fall for me, I had to make her and I knew exactly how.___

_"Would you please hand me those?" I stretched my arm and looked into the pool. It felt like I was a little kid again, almost not able to wait to take a swim.___

_She gave me the spare clothes I had taken with me and I laid them down onto a boulder. My clothes, bracelets and crown soon followed and I took off my shirt. It was a hot day and I felt like I was sweating like a pig, this would be refreshing. As soon as I stepped into the water it felt like I was in heaven. I created some waves with my arms and laid myself down, closing my eyes.___

_"I know it's hot, you can join me if you want to," I said to the girl behind me.___

_"It's not allowed for servants to go in there," she said. "I could get punished."___

_I stood up and walked towards her. I could see the slight blush on her face when she saw my body shining in the sunlight because of the water.___

_"I am the Pharaoh's son you know. If I tell you can go in, no one will punish you. Besides, my father isn't here and since no one can go in here without a member of the royal family, nobody but me will see you."___

_"I can't, master." She looked to the ground and I took her chin in my hand, leading her head towards mine.___

_I looked down into her ocean-like blue eyes while she looked up into my crimson ones. "Would you like to?" I whispered.___

_I noticed that she was getting weak in her knees since she was shaking. "Yes, master," she whispered.___

_A smile appeared on my face and I leaned closer, touching her lips with mine.___

_She jerked her head away and laid her hand upon her lips. "Master, we can't."___

_I could see the tears, welling up in her eyes and I took her in my arms while she sobbed against my bare chest.___

_"Why can't we?" I asked her.___

_"We don't belong together. You're the pharaoh, I'm just a servant. You have to marry someone royal, not me. We can never be together."___

_I pushed her a few inches away from my chest and looked into her eyes. "But I want to be with you."___

_A little smile appeared on her face and I could see that pain in her eyes again. "I want to be with you too."___

_She gave me a little peck on my lips and soon ran off, leaving me all alone. She was right, we could never be together…_

(A/N: To make things clear before I go any further, Yami and Tea had the same dream.)

**Tea:**

"Good morning. It's a new week which means, back to school and back to work! It's seven O'clock and it's only 44 degrees outside so I suggest to put on some warm clothes today! The weather forecast…"

"Shut up," I muttered. I stretched my limbs and rubbed my eyes. Last night I almost didn't sleep, somehow the rain kept me awake.

"Tea, breakfast is ready dear!" my mother shouted.

"Coming!"

I put on a dressing gown and walked downstairs. I could smell pancakes in the air and my pace quickened.

"It smells delicious, mom." I tried to smile a little although I could fall asleep any minute.

"Tea, are you alright? You look tired."

"I just had a rough night." I took a bite of my pancake and remembered the only dream I had. My hand went back to my lips and a little smile appeared on my face. His touch had been so comforting, it had felt so right and wrong at the same time.

"Well, I have to go honey, I have to go to an early meeting." She gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and ran outside towards her car. One minute after she closed it the doorbell rang.

I walked towards the door and had to suppress a yawn when opening it. I blinked a few times, not sure if I was still asleep or not.

"Yami?"

"Hey Tea, sorry I'm early but Yugi's leaving on a trip today so I had to drop him off early and since grandpa is already opening the shop I thought I should already come here." He smiled a little embarrassed when seeing me in my dressing gown but I didn't mind.

"Come in, come in. Would you like some pancakes? My mom baked too much for me."

"Sure." He closed the door behind him and followed me towards the kitchen. I sat down and a big yawn escaped my lips.

"Maybe I should take some coffee," I murmured.

I stood up again and walked over to the coffee machine while humming to a song on the radio.

"How many hours did you sleep last night?" Yami asked while putting some sugar onto his pancake.

"I don't know, two? I really couldn't sleep and then I had these strange dreams." I shook my head, trying to get the image of Yami's wet chest out of my mind. The thought of it made me crazy.

"Yeah, me too." He looked down to his plate and pocked some of his food.

"So, where is Yugi going? He didn't mention it yesterday." I sat down and took a nip of my coffee.

"They're going on a fieldtrip, I had to drop him off at 6.45 am. I'm already out of bed since six and normally I have to get up at seven, but I don't really mind. When I was dueling it wasn't often I could sleep eight hours a day."

"Hmm." I couldn't really respond to him, I had to think of him, sitting in that bed. My mind was really playing tricks on me, why did I have such dreams?

"We're going on a fieldtrip too, did you know? Joey told me about it last Saturday."

"Really? Where are we going?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I think it has something to do with history class, so we should ask Mr. Ishtar tomorrow."

"Yeah, maybe we should…" Fieldtrip… Taking a walk with Yami…

"Tea?" I looked up into his crimson eyes and he gave me a concerned look. "Are you sure you are alright? Most of the time you're the one who talks but now you barely respond and your staring at me as if your mind is somewhere else."

"It's nothing," I said while putting my plate and cup into the sink. "I'm going to change, okay?"

**Yami:**

I put my plate into the sink once I was ready and started to clean the table. Something was different about Tea, it was as if her mind was somewhere else. But then again, mine had been too when I first got up. I couldn't get the feeling of her lips on mine out of my head. Suddenly I heard a loud scream coming from upstairs which interrupted my thoughts.

"Tea!" I shouted. I ran up the stairs and looked down the hallway. I hadn't been upstairs before but suddenly Tea ran out of one of the doors, straight towards me. Her arms were around my neck in no time and she hugged herself tighter to my body.

"Y-Yami, there's a s-spider," she whispered.

I wanted to laugh but I couldn't, not when she was this close to me. I could feel my heart beating faster each second but I had to do something, I couldn't stay here and stare down at her.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"In my room," she whispered.

I went to the door she just ran out and she followed me, only leaving a few inches between us. I opened the door and she stood still, clearly not wanting to continue towards the little monster.

"There." She pointed towards the opposite wall and I went to pick it up. As soon as I had it in my hands she took a step into her room but she didn't came closer to me.

"Put it outside," she said.

I smiled and opened the window. "There you go," I said to the little spider.

When I turned around I took a look at her room. The walls had a baby blue color and she had a wooden floor. Against the walls there were posters of dancers and one of the Dark Magician Girl. On her nightstand there were three pictures. One was of her, her mother and a man who I assumed, was her father. Another one was from a few years ago. She held Yugi in her arms and my grandfather and another man were sitting behind them, probably that was her grandfather. The last picture was taken a few weeks ago. Joey, Tristan, Mai, Serenity, Tea and I were on it. Tristan's arm was wrapped around Serenity's shoulder, which caused Joey to give him an angry glare but there was also a little blush on his face since Mai gave him a kiss on the cheek. Tea sat right next to Serenity and smiled widely towards the camera and I was smirking while crossing my arms.

"Yami?"

I turned around to face Tea. "Yes?"

"Would you mind if I continue? I'll be downstairs in a few minutes." She smiled at me and I nodded.

"See you in a minute."


	8. Mai's birthday

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Chapter eight: Mai's birthday**

**Yami:**

"I can't wait until tonight, she's going to love my present," Joey said to me and Tristan. Today, the 20th of November, it was Mai's birthday and of course, Joey was going to make his move. She was giving a birthday party this evening and probably the whole school was invited.

"What did you buy her?" Tristan asked.

"I'm not going to tell you guys, you'll see it later." He had a smirk on his face, sure that he was going to make her fall for him tonight.

"Come on, Joe," Tristan whined. He didn't like it when someone had secrets for him, especially not his best friends.

I didn't pay attention to them anymore when I saw Mai and Tea walking towards us. There was something about Tea, something that dragged me towards her. But I had to control myself, it would destroy our friendship.

"Hey Mai, happy birthday!" Joey shouted once he spotted them.

She looked up and smiled at him, which made us freeze.

"Did she just smile at you?" Tristan whispered with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"She still is," I said, not believing my eyes. She only smiled at Seto and me in the beginning, since we were rich and of course at Tea but she had never smiled at Joey before.

"Thanks Joey," Mai answered when she walked past us.

"Joey? Where did Joseph go?" Tristan suddenly shouted.

Tea heard it and turned around to give me a quick wink. "I'll explain it to you later," she said without making a sound.

I nodded and she smiled. Suddenly she saw the sweater I was wearing and she pointed to it and put her thumb in the air. Before I could react she already turned back around to the blond eighteen-year old next to her.

"Hey Yami, what's that with you and Tea. You guys often speak in your own language, pointing, smiling, putting hands in the air or just fingers. What's going on with you two?" Tristan asked.

"Nothing." In fact, that wasn't true, at least not for me, but I wouldn't admit it, I couldn't afford losing her.

"Alright then, why did she point to your sweater? Because it's new?"

"Because she bought it." I could hit myself against the head. "I mean, she chose it with me and Yugi when we went to the mall Wednesday." Now I could really hit myself. Knowing Joey and Tristan, they were going to make fun of me.

Joey and Tristan gave each other a quick look and then smirked at me.

"It seems to me that you're doing a lot with Tea, aren't you?" Joey asked.

"She's just my friend, like you are. I went to the arcade with you too, Tristan. And to the soccer match with you Joey. Besides, we do lots of stuff together all the time."

"Hey, that doesn't count! Tea was there at the arcade!" Tristan said.

Joey started to whistle an annoying tone and decided to sing the most annoying song on the planet with it. "Yami and Tea, sitting in a tree…"

"Now I remember," I said before Joey could continue. "You and Serenity were at the mall too."

Joey stopped singing and looked over to Tristan, giving him an angry glare. "You were at the mall with my sister?" He yelled.

This had worked out just fine, for me at least. There was only one way to shut them both up, talking about Serenity.

**Tea:**

"Honey, you're coming to my birthday party, aren't you?" Mai asked.

"Sure, we've already bought you a present," I answered, still thinking about Yami. He wore the black sweater I had picked for him last Wednesday and it fitted him well.

"We?" Mai asked.

"Yami and I, he didn't know what to buy so we just split the price in half."

"I see," Mai smirked. "You're starting to like him, aren't you?"

"He's just my friend Mai." I looked down at my feet, trying to hide the disappointed look in my eyes. How much I wanted him to be more than that.

"Okay, okay, calm down a bit. It's not that I have the time to think about you two anyway." A big sigh escaped her lips and I turned to look at her.

"What's wrong Mai?" It wasn't like her to not want to hear and spread the latest gossip.

"Nothing's wrong, well I don't think it is. It's just… I've searched for men with money to satisfy my needs but none of them seems to want me. Seto isn't interested in anyone and Yami's interested in you."

"Mai!" Although I was mad at her for saying that out loud where people could hear us, I wondered if it was really true. Did other people really think Yami liked me?

"What I'm saying Tea, maybe I've been looking for the wrong men while the right one was right in front of me." She turned her head and so did I. I could see Joey, Tristan and Yami at their lockers. A little smile appeared on her face before she turned around again.

"What do you mean?"

"What if there was a man who didn't have loads of money but who wanted to satisfy my needs, who wanted to buy me all kinds of things if I asked him too. Who would want to give me the world even if he couldn't."

"Mai, have you fallen in love?" Maybe there were still some wonders in the world. Mai Valentine falling in with a boy and not with money? That was a first.

A little smile appeared on her lips. "Maybe I have Tea, maybe I have."

**Yami:**

"When do I have to be back, grandpa?" I asked while putting my watch onto my wrist. The damn thing was annoying me. It had already taken me about an hour to find a watch that I liked and now it was being stubborn, not wanting to be around my skin.

"It doesn't matter Yami, just have a good time and tell Mai there is a new Harpie's Pet Dragon coming out next week. I'll save it for her."

"Okay, I have to go now!" I shouted when I finally got the watch on. My grandpa answered something but I wasn't able to hear what. I ran outside towards my car, I was already running late. I had promised Tea to pick her up at seven but it was already 7.15 pm.

I took a seat and looked at myself. I straightened the collar of my jacket and put my Millennium Puzzle in place. I didn't leave without it, somehow it felt weird when I took it off, even when I was just taking a shower or going to bed, it was always right there with me, only a few inches from my body.

It was cold outside so I decided to put the roof on the car and put on the heat. Tea would appreciate it if she could get into a nice warm car before getting to Mai. The party was starting at 7.30 pm so maybe if I drove fast enough we would still make it.

"Now, do I have everything?" I murmured to myself.

"Wallet?" I put my hand into one of my pockets and found it.

"Keys?" I took a look at the keys in the contact of the car and they were still on it.

"Card?" I looked at the seat on my right to see Mai's birthday present, wrapped in a red paper with hearts onto it. Tea had decided to wrap it in, so it seem more like a gift.

After a few minutes I arrived at Tea's home and I put the card into my wallet to make sure I wouldn't lose or forget it. Right when I wanted to rang the bell Tea's mother opened the door.

"Hello Miss Gardner, is Tea ready?"

She shook her head. "I thought Tea said you were going to pick her up at seven." She held her keys in one of her hands and gave me a questioning look.

"She already left?" I shouted. Miss Gardner gave me a strange look, probably thinking there was something wrong with me. This wasn't me to behave like this, but then again, I was mad. I couldn't believe Tea left without me.

"Sweety, it's 6.20 pm, of course she didn't left."

I took a look at my new watch. Great, the salesman set it an hour later than it actually was so I had hurried for nothing.

"Mwom, who awe you twaking two?" I heard someone say.

I took a look behind Tea's mother and I could see Tea herself, standing on the stairs. She was wearing a grey shirt and some pink shorts with a towel around her wet hair and a toothbrush in her mouth. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw me.

"Wami!" she shouted and she ran back to the bathroom. I couldn't help but to laugh and so did the woman in front of me.

"Well, I've got to go anyway, I have to go to the store. They close at seven so I have to hurry. Make yourself comfortable, you know where the drinks are if you're thirsty."  
I thanked her and she closed the door behind her, leaving me alone.

"Uhm, Tea?" I shouted.

"Take a seat Yami, I'll be right there!"

I did as I was told and went over to the white leather couch and sat down to wait.

**Tea:**

"Why are you so early?" I had quickly dried my hair and I was now in the kitchen, getting Yami a drink.

"Because I thought I was late," he answered. "I bought a new watch but the time wasn't right."

I laughed when I came back into the living room, holding a glass of lemonade. "Well, I'll hurry, okay? I have to put on some other clothes."

"You look fine in these," he said while nipping from his drink. Was he serious? This old grey shirt and my pink shirt were hideous.

I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head. "For walking around the house, maybe. For going to Mai's party, I'll have to dress like a princess if I don't want her to throw me out."

He chuckled a bit before speaking again. "I wouldn't mind leaving with you if she did that." His own eyes suddenly widened in shock, and so did mine. Did he really say that?

"Well, anyway. I'm going now because we don't want to be late, do we?" I said with a nervous tone and I ran up the stairs, leaving him alone again.

"Now, what should I put on?" I murmured when I opened my closet.

"Maybe this." I took a red shirt in my hands but threw it to the ground a few seconds later. "No, certainly not."

A lot of clothes followed my red shirt until my closet was almost empty. Suddenly I spotted a green dress. It didn't have any sleeves and was quit short and clearly recommended to wear in Summer but somehow I wanted to put it on.

"Now, some shoes." I sat down on my knees and found what I was looking for, at least one of them. I held a black heel in my hands and I looked under my closet to see the other one.

"Damn it!" I put out my arm and tried to get it, putting my tongue a few inches out of my mouth in the progress.

**Yami:**

Sometimes I could hear her swear at something, probably not knowing what to wear and I smiled a little, imagining her doing all of crazy things while getting ready.

The clacking of her heels made me turn around and as soon as she walked down the stairs I was dazzled. She wore a green sleeveless dress. You had to fasten it with a zipper at one side so it would stay up. Her black heels matched the little black pullover which was open.

"Yami, it's already seven o'clock we should go," she said.

I nodded, to astonished to do something else. "Nice dress," I finally said when she was locking her front door.

"Nice sweater," she giggled.

"I thought you would say that." I opened the door for her and stepped into the car myself ten seconds later.

"How does the fabric feel? Not itchy?" She lifted one finger and trailed down my chest with it, an electric shock going through my body.

A little blush appeared on my face and she suddenly seemed to realize what she was doing. "Sorry," she muttered.

It was silent for another ten minutes but she decided to speak again. "Did you bring the card with you?"

"Yes." I put my hand in my pocket and pulled my wallet out. "You should probably give it, she's your best friend."

She took the card out of it and thanked me, another silence following.

I pulled into Mai's driveway and I could see loads of cars. Light were burning in the whole mansion and a red carpet was laid out for the front door. It seemed more like a part thrown for celebs than a birthday party. But then again, Seto and I were invited and we were celebs too. Somehow I seemed to forget that almost the whole world knew me, everything seemed so normal around Tea. I parked my car somewhere under a tree.

"Thanks for the lift Yami, I have to go now, Mai's probably waiting for me." She said while waving at me.

"Yeah, I'll go and look for Tristan and Joey."

**Tea:**

"There's Joey!" Mai said. She seemed excited. She was happy with me and Yami's present and said that it would definitely get a place in her deck.

"I'll leave you two alone," I whispered and she nodded once.

It was so oblivious, Mai and Joey were in love, after all this time. She would tell me later what she got for her birthday.

It was almost 11 o'clock and I had spent all my time with Mai. I needed some air so I decided to go outside. The balcony seemed inviting, the moon was shining bright tonight.

"Great," I said while rubbing my arms. I had forgotten my pullover inside but I didn't want to go, I needed some rest.

"Here, take this." I turned around to see no one else than Yami, pulling out his black sweater and giving it to me. "You seem cold, Tea."

He stood there, in his black shirt and his grey jeans. His new designer watch shining in the moonlight. But it were his crimson eyes that captivated me, this position seemed so familiar in some way.

"T-thanks," I stuttered, still locked into his eyes. I couldn't speak, seeing him like this, I just couldn't.

"Tea, are you alright?" He raised an eyebrow and gave me a confused look.

I nodded once before putting on the sweater. As soon as it was on me I could feel his warmth and I could smell his delicious scent in my nose, it was making me crazy. I turned around and closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling. My hands were resting on the edge of the balcony when I suddenly felt his hand taking mine. My eyes shot open and I looked up at him, waiting for whatever he was going to do.

"Tea?" His voice sounded unsure, something that wasn't like him.

"Yes Yami?" I noticed that my voice sounded the same as his and I smiled a little, encouraging him to continue.

"You know that you're my friend right, one of my best." He had never really said that I was one of his best friends and I felt happy, hearing those words out of his mouth. But somehow I also felt a little bit disappointed, knowing that he just saw me as his friend.

"You're mine too," I said and he smiled a little.

"And you know that I care about you." My heart skipped a bit when he said that, but I decided not to think anything of it. He was Yami the Duel King and I was Tea, just Tea. He could never fall in love with me, could he?

"I care about you too," I whispered, scared to wake myself up 'cause this seemed like a dream.

"Will you please promise me that whatever happens, we'll stay friends?" It sounded as if he was planning something, as if he was going to do something that could change everything and I felt scared. What if he was going to tell me something I didn't like at all? But he was my friend, I would always have his back, no matter what.

"Of course I promise Yami."

As soon as I spoke the words he took my chin in his hand and lead me closer to his face. I could feel my heart beating faster with each inch we approached to each other. He kept looking into my eyes with his crimson ones but they soon closed, and so did mine, when our lips touched each other. My hands found their way to his neck and I locked them around him while one of his hands was caressing my cheek and the other was around my waist, pulling me closer to him. It felt right to be with him, as if I had been lost for years and I finally found my home again. This was where I belonged, in his arms.

"Hey Tea, guess what? Joey and I…!" I heard Mai shout and suddenly she started to laugh.

Yami and I both looked towards the door and saw Mai and Joey disappearing, hand in hand. I looked back to Yami and he had a light blush on his cheeks.

"Friends?" he whispered while laying his forehead onto mine.

"Friends," I smiled before giving him another kiss.


	9. Trips in life and trips in dreams

**(A/N: Maybe I should make something clear about the previous chapter. When Yami asked Tea 'friends?' and she said yes, it was meant as 'You aren't mad at me and this doesn't change anything between us, okay?'. That's why he asked all those questions before. Oh yeah, thanks for the nice reviews, Elle-L and Sara Darkotter on Fanfiction and SonAmyFanGirl on DeviantArt. Also thanks to Yamino-Kanji because this story is in her group's gallery YamixAnzu on DeviantArt. I hope you'll like the new chapter, because it was a pain in the ass -' I rewrote it 5 times, at least…)**

**Chapter nine: Trips in life and trips in dreams**

**Yami:**

I finally did it, I finally had the courage to tell Tea how I felt and I was glad I did. She seemed to understand me completely. Somehow I didn't feel like holding her hand when there were loads of people around us and she understood. We never held hands when we were at school or walking down the street but when we were sitting in my car she would always lay her hand upon mine, strangling our fingers as one and I would smile at her. It felt right that way, to not show our feelings in public. Not that we wanted to hide it, it just seemed normal to us. The first one we actually told about our relationship was Yugi and he seemed as if he wanted to hug us to death.

"Now Tea is really my sister!" he had shouted through the house, causing my grandpa to come upstairs and ask what was happening.

My thought were interrupted by someone's head falling onto my shoulder. I looked to the left and I could see Tea, she had fallen asleep and she wrinkled her nose when she clung onto my arm, breathing in my scent. I looked down at her a few seconds and put some hair behind her ear before looking outside again. We sat at the back of the bus, Joey and Mai in front of us and Tristan was listening to his IPod on our left, Ryo next to him and Seto being a lone wolf in front of them.

"Alright everyone, we're almost there so I suggest you should take your bags and jackets," Mr. Ishtar shouted from the front.

I gently woke Tea up and she rubbed her eyes. "Sorry Yami, it must be the weather that's making me tired, it's so cold," she murmured. She got up and gave me my bag and jacket before sitting down again and putting hers on.

"I don't mind Tea, are you sure everything is okay. You've been tired a lot lately."

"I don't know, it must've been the exams that made me stress out. I'm sure glad that it's almost Christmas," she yawned. "Then I can spend my days in bed…"

"Yeah sure, then you two can spend your days in bed." I looked up and saw Joey leaning over the back of his chair to talk to us with a big smirk on his face.

"And what did you do the last weeks, Joseph? Studying your lessons or studying Mai?" Tea gave him an angry glare and he turned around.

"Tea, you don't have to be angry. That's just Joey." I said.

"I know Yami, it isn't Joey's fault, I just need my bed." Another yawn escaped her lips and she laid her head back upon my shoulder, closing her eyes. "Did you know that you smell delicious?" she said with a little smile on her face.

"You've said that about hundred times but no, I didn't know." I teased her.

Before she could respond Mr. Ishtar got our attention again and we stood up to leave the buss, walking outside in the cold winter air. A woman with a thick, beige coat walked towards us and she gave our teacher a kiss on his cheek.

"Ishizu," I whispered.

"Who?" Tristan asked.

"She's Ishizu Ishtar, I know her from in Egypt, she's the one that gave me the Millennium Puzzle," I answered.

"Alright class, this is my sister, you can call her Miss. Ishtar. She'll lead one group through the museum while I'll lead the other one. Yami, Ryo, Seto, Tristan, Joey, Mai, Tea, Rebecca, you can follow Miss Ishtar. The rest follow me please."

Everyone hurried to be inside. As soon as we stood into the new building we took of our coats, it felt like we stepped into an oven. But it felt nice, once you were inside for a few minutes.

"You can put your jackets and bags in that room," Ishizu said while pointing towards a big white door. "It'll be closed so you don't have to be afraid that anything will get stolen. If anyone needs to go to the bathroom, please do so and then we'll start with the tour."

A lot of the girls walked straight to the bathroom, as always, and Mr. Ishtar went over to his sister and they started to talk. Suddenly they turned their faces towards me and a smile appeared on Ishizu's face.

"I see that you've solved the puzzle," she said while walking towards me, leaving our teacher behind to gather his group.

I took the pendant in my hands and nodded. "Yes, I did."

"I knew you would." She gave me a quick wink and my eyes caught her Millennium Item, the Millennium Necklace. I wondered which ability it had according to the legends.

"Now, everyone follow me please," she said.

**Tea:**

We had almost seen the whole museum and I couldn't wait to get into the bus again. I really need some sleep, I was going to crash any minute now. The last couple of weeks I had stayed up late to study and woke up early to revise. The Christmas vacation was going to do me good, real good.

"Now this is last room of the museum. Feel free to look around and ask questions," Ishizu said.

"Who lies in this?"Ryo asked. He was pointing towards a large sarcophagi at the end of the room. There was a lot of gold, blue and crimson it, the same color as Yami's eyes.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," Ishizu said.

Ryo nodded a bit disappointed and turned to go to the other side, watching all kinds of old materials. Sometimes he was a bit of a know-it-all.

"Could I take a closer look?" I asked Ishizu.

"Sure. Please don't touch the glass, the alarm goes off then." I could feel her gaze following me but I didn't mind, I needed to take a closer look at it.

I nodded and took a step forward, Yami and Joey following me.

"I think it's freaky. A dead body that's been lying in there for at least 3000 years. What would happen if you open it, it would probably stink," Joey said.

Normally I would've laughed but this time I didn't, there was something about this sarcophagi, I didn't want Joey to offend it. I was only a few steps away from it but suddenly I stopped, causing the others to stop too.

"Joey, you should pay a little bit more respect. What if he heard you?" I said.

An uncontrollable laugh came out of his mouth. "How could a dead pharaoh hear me," he asked. "You're a bit crazy sometimes, I'm going back to Mai."

He turned around, wiping some imaginary tears from his face and I rolled my eyes in frustration before taking another step, only Yami following me this time.

"It's beautiful, don't you think?" I asked.

"Not as beautiful as you," he whispered into my ear and he gave me a quick kiss at the side of my neck. I liked it when he did such quick moves, it felt a bit sneaky.

A little giggle escaped from my mouth but I turned to look at the sarcophagi again. "I do wonder who lies in here…" I murmured.

"Ishizu," Yami called. She looked our way and came closer.

"May I ask, is this Pharoah the original owner of the Millennium Puzzle?" he asked.

She gave him a questioning look. "How do you know, Yami?"

"Your brother told me about the Pharoah who can not be named (A/N: why does that sound Harry Potter?) that he had the Millennium Puzzle and since you can't tell us his name I thought it would be him."

"It's good that you're such a smarty," I teased him.

"I would like to ask you something else. Your brother told us every Millennium Item had his own strengths, according to the legends. I wondered what yours does," Yami said.

I looked up into his crimson eyes and I could see the desire, he really wanted to know what these items exactly were although he didn't believe in legends, at least I thought he didn't.

"It aren't legends, Yami," she said. "The millennium items do have powers of their own. The Millennium Necklace gives me the ability to look in the past and the future. This future can't be changed unless under the control of another Millennium Item."

"What if your visions don't come true then?" I asked.

"They always do." She smiled a little and wanted to turn around but suddenly froze. Her eyes got a blank expression and I could see a faint glow in the eye of her millennium item. She blinked a few times and shook her head, getting back to normal. "Sorry, I just thought about something. Are you two a couple?"

"Yes," Yami answered and I felt happy, hearing him admit that we were a couple to someone.

"I see…" she turned around and suddenly left, going towards another part of the building.

"Maybe we should get back to the entrance," I yawned.

"Maybe we should," Yami chuckled.

**Yami (dream):**

_I was walking through the palace, wandering around. Sometimes I liked times like these, just walking around and thinking.___

_"Again!" I heard someone shout.___

_The faint sound of music lead me towards another room where the dancers rehearsed. My eye immediately got caught on Teana and I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms, no one noticing me.___

_The dark haired woman nodded towards someone who played the drums. It was a huge brown pot turned down and the boy was slamming it with two thick branches. A strange sound came out of it, it didn't sound like the same tone as at the ceremonies but that was probably because more improved instruments were used there. The melody still seemed the same so I enjoyed watching the dance.___

_In the front row little children were dancing, they were probably children of the servants here but I knew that some of them had lost their parents, Mana once told me that. The row right behind that was for the more experienced dancers like Teana. It were only five of them, guiding the little children, they were performing the ceremonial dance.___

_Suddenly a little girl tripped and fell down to the ground which caused Teana to walk over to her.___

_"It's alright, you didn't hurt yourself did you?" she asked the little girl who had tears in her eyes.___

_"Teana!" The old woman shouted. "This is no use, you have to learn them how to do the dance properly, not acting like their mother!"___

_The young woman stood up and the little girl grabbed the back of her skirt with her little hands.___

_"We've practiced for hours, it isn't her fault. She's probably tired."___

_"You dare to speak up to me, slave!" the woman shouted and her hand flew through the air, hitting Teana's cheek. "If the Pharaoh hears of this behavior he will punish you!"___

_"I'm sure he won't." I said, making my presence clear. Everyone quickly bowed down and I could see a hint of pain in Teana's eyes when she looked up to me. She always had that look in her eyes when she saw me, her pain resembled mines. We couldn't be together, we never could.___

_"Master," the woman said before standing up. "The ceremonial dance is very important, such behavior must not be tolerated."___

_"You dare to speak up to me, the prince?" I asked while looking down at the woman. She got a scared look in her eyes.___

_"Of course not, my Pharaoh." She shook her head and looked at her feet.___

_"Now, I want you all to go to sleep and I don't want things like this to happen again. Understood?"___

_"Yes master," the old woman murmured and she went outside to her bedroom.___

_"Thanks Teana," the little girl said.___

_She crouched down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Go to sleep," she murmured.___

_The girl walked towards the entrance, following the other children and the four other woman before turning around. "Thank you, prince Atem." She bowed a little and ran after her friends.___

_"You didn't have to do that," the brown haired woman next to me said.___

_"I didn't like her speaking to you like that. You would be a great mother, you know that? You're very protective but in a caring way, not an obsessive." My hand gently caressed her cheek but she took my hand in hers, leading it back down.___

_"Atem," she whispered. "You know we can't."___

_"I know."___

_When I looked into her eyes I could see her pain and mine into them. Crimson and blue living next to each other, as the night sky when the sun was starting to set, not finding a path to be together, to be as one.___

_She smiled faintly and walked away from me, leaving me empty and alone. I looked down to the ground and heard a scream. When I looked up again the view had changed, I stood in the dark and wet room again like the first night I had seen her. I didn't want to see that blank expression again, I didn't want to see her soul, being taken by that monster.___

_"Atem!" Teana screamed. I wanted to walk towards her, I wanted to save her.___

_"No, you won't." The man said and her eyes went blank once more, causing me to fall on my knees.___

_"No, Teana, noooo!" I screamed_

**Tea:**

"Nooooooooooooooo!"

My eyes shut open and I looked over to Yami, so did the whole buss. He was sleeping and I could see sweat forming on his forehead. He was frowning and his whole body trembled.

"Yami, Yami!" I shouted but he didn't wake up, tears coming out of his eyes now.

"Mr. Isthar! Mr. Ishtar!" I shouted.

He ran towards us and I was still trying to wake him up. Soon Mai, Joey, Tristan and Ryo were standing around us, the rest of the buss looking over their seats, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening.

"Don't touch him," the teacher said.

"It's his Millennium Puzzle," Ryo murmured. "It's glowing."

"Stop the bus!" Mr. Ishtar shouted at the driver. "Ryo, are you wearing your Millennium Ring?"

"Yes, why?" He gave him a questioning look and everyone got very interested now.

"Show it to me, quickly." He pulled out his sweater and revealed his Millennium Item.

"It's glowing too," Joey said.

"Wait here, and don't touch him!" The light haired man walked back to the front, getting his bag. When he came back he opened it and took a golden item out of it, the Millennium Rod.

"Why are all these things glowing?" Joey asked.

"Shut up Joseph, don't you see the man is trying to help Yami," Mai answered. She always used his real name when she was frustrated.

"My sister gave me the Rod back when we were at the museum, she told me I would need it. Seems that she was right. I will be able to read Yami's mind when I use this. There's clearly something wrong with our Millennium Items and he seems to be the source of it."

"You're delusional, you're nuts," Seto said.

"Shut up, Kaiba!" Mai shouted. She was concerned for her friend and so was I. We all waited as Mr. Ishtar closed his eyes and started to concentrate.

It was silent for a few minutes until he opened his eyes again. "I'll have to control his will to wake him up. He's lost."

"His will?" I shouted. "You can't take his will from him!"

"Tea, it'll be alright. I won't keep it, I'm not a bad person." (A/N: He is indeed NOT a bad person, I told you this story was a bit AU so this character is clearly OOC :p)

I nodded once and he closed his eyes again. A few seconds later Yami woke up.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" He asked, looking to all our faces. When he looked into my eyes I could see relief in his and he put out his hand to touch my cheek.

"You're alright," he whispered slightly caressing the side of my face with his thumb.

"Of course I am, silly," I smiled.

"Hey, they're not glowing anymore!" Joey shouted and I turned to look at the Puzzle, Rod and Ring.

"You're right Joey, for once," Tristan said.

"What happened?" Yami asked, trying to sit straight again.

"You were having a bad dream and you didn't wake up so Mr. Ishtar went to take his bag and took his Millennium Rod to wake you up. But it seemed like there was something wrong since your Millennium Item was glowing and so was Ryo's and Mr. Ishtar's," Joey said.

"You really liked that glow-thingy, didn't you?" Tristan asked while rolling his eyes.

"He wasn't just having a bad dream," Mr. Ishtar whispered.

"Then what did he have?" the blonde boy asked.

"Never mind. Yami's okay, that's what matters." He stood up and took his bag, placing his Millennium Rod in it. I followed him with my eyes and noticed that he was taking his cell phone out of his pocket. Soon everyone sat down again, doing what they were doing before anything had happened.

"Tea?" Yami whispered.

"Yes Yami?" I asked.

"You want to be with me right?" He seemed unsure, as if he was doubting my feelings for him.

"Of course I want to be with you." He smiled a little, still unsure and concerned.

"And you don't think we don't belong together?"

"Why are you asking me all of these questions? Is it because of your dream?" He didn't have to answer, it was because of his dream. The relief in his eyes when he saw me when he woke up had told me everything.

He nodded and looked down to his Millennium Puzzle. He knew something was wrong, and I knew too, I could feel it in the air.

"Yami." I almost jumped from my seat when I heard Mr. Ishtar's voice next to me.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind staying a little longer after school? You too Tea. I have to talk to you about something." He had a strange look in his eyes, he seemed concerned and excited at the same time.

We both nodded and I decided to get some sleep now I still could 'cause I had a bad feeling that after today, it would be hard to get some sleep again tonight.


	10. Combining powers

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Chapter ten: Combining powers**

**Yami:**

We took our bags and walked out of the bus, Tea had the same frown on her forehead as I had. She was probably wondering what Mr. Ishtar was going to do or say and so was I.

"Hey, Yami, could I get a lift?" I heard Joey shout.

"Sorry Joe, Mr. Ishtar asked me to stay here."

"That's a bummer, does he know that the vacation is starting right now? I'll ask Tristan for a ride then. Bye!" He waved the back of his hand and swung his bag over his shoulder with his other.

Tea and I walked towards the school building, in the direction of our history class and we both hurried to get inside. It had been starting to snow a little and the temperature was getting lower each minute.

"Yami, what did you dream about?" Tea suddenly asked. She held her bag close to her chest to keep herself warmer and she was looking to the ground while we were walking inside the room.

"I dreamt about you, sort of," I said.

"You dreamt about Teana, didn't you?" I froze and looked down at her when she stopped too and turned around. "I'll take that as a yes." She smiled a little and wanted to continue our walk.

"How do you know, Tea?" I asked.

We were almost at the end of the hallway when the door suddenly swung open, Ishizu was standing in the doorway, holding her coat close to her body.

"Are you here for Mr. Ishtar too?" Tea asked, avoiding my question.

She nodded and quickened her pace to catch up with us.

"He called me after the little incident in the bus," she said, trying not to look into my eyes. "He seemed a bit excited when he told me the story."

"Because he read Yami's mind and saw his dream?" Tea kept asking questions, still avoiding to answer mine.

"Yes, he read Yami's mind but he didn't only see his dream, he saw much more than that." She smiled a little and I raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly the door on our right swung open and Mr. Ishtar walked out of it.

"Come in, come in." He waved with his hand and put his head out of the door looking from left to right before closing it. It seemed as if we were in a movie and he was looking if there weren't any spies.

Tea and I took a seat a desk in the front row and Ishizu pulled out a chair to sit next to us.

"Tell me Yami, have you dreamed of this before?" Mr. Ishtar asked.

I nodded. "A few times."

"What did you see the first time?" He sounded very interested but I wasn't sure if I should tell Tea or not.

"Do you mean, when I saw her for the first time?" I asked referring to Teana.

"Yes," our teacher replied. I shifted a bit uncomfortable in my chair, Tea was going to think I was nuts.

"The first time I saw her, I wasn't dreaming." I said calmly, making Mr. Ishtar's eyes widen. "When I came back home it was my little brother's birthday and Tea was invited too. The first time I saw her I just met Tea. I blinked and suddenly Tea was wearing these old clothes, a long white dress and a brown belt-like cloth around her waist. They were a bit filthy and her skin seemed tanned and her hair a bit longer."

"And after that?" Mr. Ishtar asked. He really wanted to figure this out and Tea hadn't spoken, she was probably thinking I was going crazy.

"The next time was a few hours later. I went to bed and as soon as I fell asleep I found myself in this strange old building. The floor was wet and it was dark and then I heard her scream. I ran as fast as I could to get to her and I wore these strange clothes and jewelry, I had a crown on my head that matched the eye on my Millennium Puzzle."

"Hmm," Mr. Ishtar said, thinking. "What happened then?"

"I found her, in the corner of a room and someone was hovering over her and she screamed my name. Well, not my name, but the person I was his name. She named me Atem and then suddenly the dark figure leaned closer to her face and she fell down with a blank expression."

"That's the same as you were dreaming today, wasn't it? So maybe it's nothing after all, maybe you're just having nightmares." I could see a disappointed look in his eyes but Ishizu shook her head.

"Tell him about your other dreams, Yami," she spoke.

"How do you know I had other dreams too?" I took a look at her Millennium Item and shook my head. "Never mind."

A big sigh escaped my lips before I continued. "I remember Mana sitting on the statue of an important God and I told her not to, my father would get mad at her if he saw it. Then my master, Mahad walked towards us and told us we should go, the ceremony would begin soon. I told Mahad that there was nothing wrong with him, because he was in love with Mana. We walked towards the room where the ceremony was held and we greeted my father, Pharoah Aknamkanon."

A big gasp escaped Mr. Ishtar's mouth. "I told you brother, he knows more than you think," Ishizu said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly confused.

"We'll explain later, continue your story Yami."

"Okay. Uhm where was I…" I looked through my memories and I could see Teana dancing. "When the ceremony began I could see a new girl, she moved like a swan, she really danced beautiful. I asked Mana what her name was and she told me her name was Teana. When the dance ended, so did my dream. I woke up, seeing that it was already late and my little brother told me he wanted to wake me up but somehow he couldn't. I don't know why…"

Ishizu gave her brother a quick look and I continued. "That night I dreamed about her again. I was sitting in the garden, all alone since everyone was out and I heard her voice behind me. She asked me if I needed some shade and I told her I didn't and I wanted her to come and sit with me. At first she told me she couldn't but soon she did and we talked about her parents and her little brother, she told me he looked like me and I could see the blame and regret in her eyes, she told me she couldn't save her brother and I felt sad inside. When I tried to comfort her she was startled and ran away. Then the dream changed, I was lying in my bed and I heard my father, he was looking for me. The door opened a few inches and Teana walked in with some new sheets. She wanted to go outside again once she spotted me but I told her not to. After I got dressed I asked if she wanted to take a walk with me and she asked if she could refuse. I told her she could and she asked me why I didn't demand her. I simply didn't want to, I didn't want to demand her. It would admit the fact that she was a servant, and I didn't want her to be one."

Tea had a blank expression on her face as if she was somewhere else with her thoughts. I wanted to lie my hand upon hers but took my hand away again, she didn't react at all. She seemed lost.

"The dream changed again and I was walking towards a pool. She followed me…" I got interrupted by Tea, still the same blank expression on her face.

"and was wearing your clothes. You got into the pool and asked her to come in with you. She refused and told you she could get punished. You said she couldn't, because you were the pharaoh's son and no one would see you there. She told you she couldn't and you took her chin in your hand and asked her if she wanted to. But you didn't ask her if she wanted to go into the pool, since it was hot. Deep down you asked her another question, if she wanted to be with you. She told you she did and you kissed her. She knew it was wrong, that you didn't belong together. You were the prince, she was just a mere servant. She ran away, leaving you all by yourself."

She was staring in front of her, looking at nothing in particular as if she was looking to her words like a movie.

"Tea, how do you know all of that?" I asked.

"Because I dreamt it too," she whispered now turning her head and smiling a little at me. "So what did you dream in the bus then?"

"About Teana. She was teaching some kids how to dance and there was an old woman, she was the one who taught everyone. A little girl tripped and I saw her helping the girl back onto her feet. The old woman got angry and told her that this was not the behavior of a servant, that the Pharaoh would punish her. I stepped into the room and told her she wouldn't and told everyone to go to bed. She stayed in the room and I caressed her cheek but she took my hand and put it next to my body and told me we couldn't be together. The pain in her eyes… It was the same as when you bowed for me Tea…"

"Bowed for him?" Ishizu asked.

Tea shrugged her shoulders. "I bowed for him once, when we were fooling around, because he's the Duel King. But I don't remember being in pain."

"It wasn't like that," I said looking down to my Millennium Puzzle, holding it in my hands and turning it around.

"The view just changed, like the first time I saw you, although I didn't knew what your pain meant at that time."

"And now you do?" she asked while taking one of my hand in hers.

"It was because you loved me and I loved you but we couldn't be together…"

"Yami, do you know what these dreams mean?" Ishizu asked.

I shook my head.

"Those dreams aren't just dreams, they're visions of your past."

"How can I have visions of my past?" I asked.

"Your Millennium Puzzle, it locks Atem's soul, his memories. It locks your soul, your memories of a past life. When you're ready you will be able to take a look into your soul and you will understand these dreams."

"That doesn't explain why I'm having these dreams," Tea said. "I don't have a Millennium Item like Yami does."

A little smile appeared onto Ishizu's lips. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, Marik giving her a quick glance. She had clearly seen something but she kept smiling at Tea.

"Everything happens for a reason, Tea." She turned and looked at her brother. "Marik, would you be so kind?" He nodded and got up, taking his Millennium Rod.

Everything went black after that.

**Tea:**

I stretched my limbs and blinked a few times. Joey sat in front of us, Mai leaning her head onto his shoulder and I noticed I was doing the same with Yami. His head lay onto the window of the bus, he must've fallen asleep while looking outside.

"What a strange dream," I murmured. I remembered Yami screaming in his sleep and a very strange story with Mr. and Miss. Ishtar.

I put my head into the hallway and looked at the front of the bus, Mr. Ishtar talking casually with the bus driver. "Strange, strange, strange," I yawned.

I looked back to my right and noticed it was snowing outside, we were probably going to have a white Christmas this year. I stared outside for a few seconds before looking down at Yami's peaceful face. I had never seen him sleep before, and it was strange to see him like this, he looked kinda cute.

I lay my head back upon his shoulder and took his arm with my both hands, cuddling myself tighter to him. I knew that he didn't like the 'showing affection in public' thing but I needed it right now and besides we were in a bus, no one was paying attention to us.

He turned his head after a few minutes and started to wake up. He look down at me with his crimson eyes and smiled a little, going through my hair with his hand. A sigh filled with happiness escaped my lips and he caressed my cheek with his thumb, never looking away from my gaze. I liked times like these, when we didn't speak but just looked at each other, it was as if I could see into his soul… I looked down at his pendant and took the golden pyramid in my hands, studying it with fingertips.

"What's wrong?" he asked, still looking down at me.

"Nothing," I murmured. "I just thought of something." I kept looking at the golden item and remembered my dream. His Millennium Puzzle was his soul and his memories and there was a key to unlock it. I smiled a little, shaking my head in the process. I was talking nonsense, as if a soul could be kept into an item like that.

After a few minutes the bus driver stopped and we took our bags. I wrapped my jacket close around me, ready to face the cold winter air and Yami followed close behind me when we got out of the bus.

"Hey, Yami, could I get a lift?" I heard Joey shout.

We both turned around to see a confused look on his face. "Wow, déjà-vu," he said.

"Sure Joe, my car's not too far from here," the boy next to me answered.

I followed both of them, still lost in my thoughts and I couldn't help but to turn around and give Mr. Ishtar a quick look. He was looking at me too and he had a surprised look onto his face, as if he was thinking about something.

"Everything alright, Tea?" he shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Ishtar. Have a nice holiday!" I ran to catch up with the boys who were almost at Yami's car.

**Yami:**

She sat down next to me on the couch, going over different channels on the TV, not really watching to anything.

"Tea, what's wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I just had a strange dream, that's all."

"Would you like to tell me about it?" I asked.

"You'll think I'm crazy," she answered, rolling her eyes.

"I already thought you were," I said in a teasing tone.

"Did you?" She gave me a quick glare but I knew she wasn't really mad. This was just a game and she knew it.

"I thought you were crazy over me," I whispered into her ear.

She started to laugh and took a pillow, smacking it to my head. "You wish."

I took another pillow and started to hit her with it, gently of course. Eventually we both ended up on the floor, laughing like two little kids.

"Are you still sure I'm not making you crazy?" I said while hovering over her body with mine.

She looked up into my eyes and took my face in her hands. "Yep." One of her hands quickly grabbed my pillow and hit me with it. She crawled back onto her feet now she got the chance but I grabbed her ankle which caused her to fall onto the ground again.

"Let go of me!" she shouted playfully.

"Beg." I said and we both started to laugh again.

**In the meantime, somewhere in Domino City:**

"I don't get it Ishizu, are you sure?" the man asked.

"Of course I am Marik," his sister replied through the phone.

"What if your vision is wrong, what if she does remember? She gave me a weird look, when she got out of the bus, as if she knew something happened," the man said nervously.

"Marik, my visions can only be changed by another Millennium Item, you know that. Even if she does know, which I doubt, we didn't do anything to harm her or Yami," she said calmly.

"We used our powers on them," the man whispered again.

"Marik, we only went back into the past so they would forget the talk. We both know that they can't completely forget, it'll be in the back of their minds. We gave them the guidance, now they need to solve their problem, they have to learn. They'll know what to do, they'll search for the key to his soul unconsciously."

"What if Atem isn't able to tap into his powers?" the man asked, his voice filled with concern.

"Brother, the pharaoh will be able to tap into them, I'm sure he will. He has already solved the puzzle, he will have the strength to continue," the woman assured him.

"I hope you're right Ishizu, I really do…"

**(A/N: Maybe I should make a few things clear. So, combining their Millennium Items Ishizu and Marik turned back time – hey, this is a fanfiction so I can give them whatever powers I want! xD- Now, how did they do this? I thought, since Ishizu can see into the future/past and Marik is able to control people's will and read their mind, combined they would be able to control time, but of course only for a little amount of time, about maximum turning back a day or something like that. No one does remember what happened, but Tea did dream about it, so maybe that has a meaning… Now, when Tea woke up, Yami was still asleep so it's safe to assume that he was dreaming the part where he sees Teana dancing and taking care of the little girl and of course when she screams his name and he tries to help her. However, this time he didn't freak out, okay? Hope you're fine with this ;D)**


	11. Christmas

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, any of these characters or the song 'All I want for Christmas is you' by Mariah Carey, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter eleven: Christmas**

**Yami:**

_"All I want for Christmas is youuuuu, baby,"_ Tea sang while dancing through the kitchen holding some plates. She was wearing a jeans and a sweater, her apron and some parts of her clothes covered in flour and sauce.

A little chuckle came out of my mouth and she put the plate down to walk over to me, placing a kiss on my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck. The kiss deepened soon and her right foot popped up in the air when she tried to stand on her tip toes and was trying not to touch me with her filthy clothes. She seemed happy today, a lot happier than she had been the lost couple of weeks. The holidays did her good indeed.

_"I won't ask for much this Christmas, I don't even wish for snow. I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe,"_ she sang while pointing to the ceiling. Her mother had probably placed a mistletoe everywhere she could hang one, because I had already seen four hanging in the house, even in front of the toilet door! The other one hung above the front door and one above the couch in the living room, which caused my grandpa to give Tea's mother a little kiss, on her cheek of course.

Although everyone seemed happy there was a dark side to this day too, Tea's father wasn't able to come over for Christmas this year but she had waved it away and told me her father had an important job, he would come back as soon as he could.

"I thought you invited Joey too?" I asked her when she went back to the oven, looking at the meat. A little frown appeared on her face and she turned down the heat a little.

"I did but he had to celebrate Christmas with Mai and her parents. Serenity is coming though, their parents are on a holiday for their second honeymoon or something like that. They got married at Christmas about twenty years ago."

"And does Joey know you invited Tristan too?" I asked her.

She turned around with a smirk on her face. "No."

We both laughed and I offered her my help in the kitchen. She was babbling about all kinds of things and I just listened while making some drinks. She seemed so alive and full of spirit, it was one of the things I loved about her.

"I'll take these to the living room," I said when taking the tray into my arms. She nodded and went to make some snacks to keep everyone satisfied until dinner began.

"Hey Tea, your mom told me you guys were here," Tristan said when he popped up in front of me, in the door opening.

Tea turned around and started to laugh uncontrollably. "You guys have to kiss," she said, pointing to the ceiling.

"What? I'm not going to kiss a guy!" Tristan shouted.

"Tea, I can't kiss Tristan," I protested.

"Hey you guys, I finally made it!" our savior shouted.

A red-brown haired girl appeared behind Tristan and I saw my chances to run away, hearing Tea say that Serenity needed to give Tristan a kiss. I knew exactly what she was doing, she would get those two together, no matter what.

"Yami, I hope you didn't use too much alcohol in those," my grandpa said while pointing towards the drinks.

"Of course not," I said. He laughed and took a glass of juice for Yugi who was playing with Blanchet (A/N: Tristan's dog) and a drink for himself. Soon my tray was empty and I went back to the kitchen to make four glasses for me, Tristan, Tea and Serenity.

"And Joey was almost trembling when Mai picked him up, I think he's scared of her dad," Serenity said when I entered the kitchen. She and Tea were leaning against a cabinet and Tristan just looked at the two girls, babbling about Joey.

"Yeah, he probably is." Tea shook her head and smiled a little. "So when does your brother come back home?"

A little blush appeared on Serenity's face. "I don't think he's coming home tonight," she whispered.

"I see," Tea said. "You can always sleep here if you want to, since there's no one at your home."

"Really?" Serenity almost shouted in excitement. "I'll text Joey to tell him I'm sleeping here, do you have some spare pajamas for me?" The two kept on talking when Tristan suddenly whispered something.

"So, did you and Tea already?"

I shook my head. "It's not like that."

"Yeah, I guess not everyone's like Joey and Mai." He rolled his eyes and took some glasses out of the cabinet beneath us. "But you and Tea sure seem different, I've never seen you guys kiss or even hold hands in public."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It just feels good that way, there's more to love than kissing or holding hands you know."

"That's true," he laughed and he gave a quick glance at Serenity.

"So, when are you going to tell her?" I whispered nonchalantly while making some other drinks.

"I don't know," Tristan answered. "Everyone seems to notice except she… I wish I had the courage to tell her. But then again, Joey would probably kill me…"

"It'll be alright Tristan, just have some faith in yourself and Joey isn't going to be mad, not for long at least. He's your best friend and he knows you'll take care of his little sister."

He smiled a little at me and I nodded to give him some more support.

"Well, I'll go and change now since there isn't really anything else I can do," Tea said while taking of her apron. She laid it upon the cabinet behind her and left the room in a hurry. She was a bit of a caretaker, she didn't want her guests to be alone for long.

"So, Serenity how did your exams go?" I asked, trying to keep up a conversation since Tristan was just staring at her and I wondered if he was going to drool.

She was nice to look at, I wouldn't deny that. She was a little bit shorter than Tea and she had the same deep brown eyes Joey had. She wore a black dress and black heels, nothing too fancy but to Tristan she looked different. She probably looked to him what Tea looked like to me, beautiful.

"They went well, I had an A+ for math so my parents were very pleased. I only had a C for Spanish but that was because I had to go the hospital the day I needed to study for it."

I nodded once. Tea had once told me Serenity was born with a problem at her eyesight. A few years ago she had an operation which healed her sight but she had to go to the hospital twice a year to see if everything was still okay.

"What about you, Tristan?" I asked, suddenly realizing I hadn't asked him before although we were sitting in the same class.

Before he could respond Serenity spoke again. "He had an A on everything of course, he's such a smarty!" she giggled.

A little blush appeared on Tristan's face when he got the compliment and so did Serenity. I had a feeling it wouldn't be too long until those two came together. I turned around and continued making our drinks.

"Yami, are you ready with those drinks so we can go to the living room?"

I looked over at the young woman and I was dazzled. Her hair was in a dot with the help of some bobby pins and she wore a beautiful white dress with some blue details that matched her eyes. I couldn't speak at first but quickly regained my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'll take them with me."

She smiled at me and turned around, followed by Tristan and Serenity.

**Tea:**

It was already eleven o'clock when suddenly the doorbell rang. My mother stood up to open it when I heard her scream.

I left my seat, telling Yami not to wory, and took a look in the hallway, seeing my father hugging my mother. He still wore his black business suit with a blue tie I once gave him for his birthday and was holding his suitcase, his face a bit wet because of the snow that was melting now he was inside.

"Daddy!" I shouted and I ran over to him, almost hugging my parents to death.

"Tea, I've missed you," he said before placing a kiss onto my forehead.

"I've missed you too. I thought you weren't able to come today?" I asked with a curious tone.

"I almost wasn't able to make it but I took another plain so I could," he said, still hugging us.

"You can still eat dessert, daddy. Or do you want me to warm something of the leftovers?" I kept on babbling, too excited because my father was finally back.

"Tea honey, calm down a bit," my mother said. "Let's go back to the living room, the rest must be wondering what's taking us so long."

We walked back to the living room, me following my parents and as soon as my father opened the door he shouted "Merry Christmas everyone!" I looked a bit like my father, at work he was a serious business man but at home with friends and family he was Mr. Sunshine.

"Ah, Mr. Solomon and little Yugi," he said before walking towards them and shaking their hands. "How's your deck coming along?"

"Pretty good, sir," the little boy answered.

My father laid down his suitcase on my mother's empty chair and took out a card. "It's the Obnoxious Celtic Guard, I thought you would like it," he said.

"Thanks Mr. Gardner!" the little boy wrapped his arms around my father's neck to give him a hug.

"Tristan," he nodded. "Everything okay in school?"

"Yes sir, as always." He smiled a bit and I could see the proud look on his face but he had the right to be so, he had always been the smartest one.

My dad turned over to the girl next to the brown haired boy and he gave her a questioning look. "Serenity, is that you?" he asked, a bit unsure.

"Yes Mr. Gardner," she answered and she stood up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"You've all grown up. Where's your brother and where's Mai?" he asked, looking around the room.

"Joey and Mai are an item now, they're at her home celebrating," she said.

"Mai Valentine and Joseph Wheeler are an item?" my father asked. "I didn't see that one coming."

He turned around and spotted Yami. He gave him a questioning look and looked over to Yugi, back to Yami.

"Yami Muto?" he asked, a bit dumbfounded. I hadn't told my father we were an item and apparently neither did my mother.

"Mr. Gardner." He stood up to shake my father's hand and nodded once before sitting down again.

"Tea?" my father asked. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Yami is my boyfriend daddy, I thought mom told you," I said, waiting for his approval. At first he didn't say a thing but after about ten seconds which seemed like an eternity he finally smiled.

"I see, well I wish you both good luck. Talking about that," he turned back to face Tristan. "How's everything going with you and Serenity, you two must be together for quite some time now, no?"

Tristan started blushing immediately and put his hands up in the air. "It's not like that Mr. Gardner, we're just friends."

"Really? I always thought you had a crush on her…"

I could see that Serenity and Tristan were both blushing but my father caught my attention when he spoke to me.

"Where is that dessert I was promised?"

**Yami:**

I stood outside in the cold winter air, looking at my surroundings. There weren't any clouds at the sky and the moon made the snow on the ground and trees seem so much more beautiful, almost magical.

"Yami?" I turned around and saw Tea's father, holding a glass of red wine in his hand.

"Yes Mr. Gardner?" I asked, watching at him as he approached me.

"I would like to talk with you about something." He had a serious tone and suddenly I realized who Tea got her character from. She could be happy and babble around like her father but she could also be serious if she needed to be.

"About Tea?" I asked.

He nodded. "About you and Tea."

I know he was going to give me the 'overprotective father talk' but I didn't mind. If he wanted to do this to lighten up his spirits then I would let him continue.

"Yes?"

He took a nip of his wine, probably trying to get warmer. "I don't know you Yami but I do know you are the Duel King," he said.

"And?"

"You're rich and famous, you can get any girl, why pick my Tea?" He put his coat tighter around him and so did I when a little breeze caressed my face.

"I don't want someone who picks me because I'm rich or because I'm famous. I want someone who cares about me and who understands me. Who can laugh with me and feel sad with me if I need them too. Someone who is my best friend and my lover at the same time. Someone who I can make happy by just being around and can protect, I need your daughter, Mr. Gardner. She makes me feel alive." I had never told this to anyone before, not even to Tea. I had never explained her how I truly felt about her.

"I see." He smiled a little before he continued. "I used almost the exact same words when I told Tea's grandfather how I felt about his daughter. I guess she's safe with you." He laid his hand upon my shoulder and went back to the warmth inside.

I wanted to follow him but before I was able to turn around I could feel two arms around my waist.

"That was the sweetest thing someone ever said about me," she whispered. I turned around and wrapped my arms around her.

"You know it's true."

She nodded and caressed my cheek with her hand while enjoying the warmth of my body next to hers. I hugged her more tight so she wouldn't get cold and we stood there for about ten minutes, just looking into each other's eyes, she caressing my cheek. No words were needed, they almost never were and I wondered why that was. When I looked at Joey and Mai, they would kiss almost all the time, they just couldn't keep their hands of each other. Tea and I on the other hand were a different story. When we were alone we would fool around like friends did, tease each other like a brother and a sister did or just be silent and look into each other's soul like only lovers could. Something about her changed me, for the better of course. She really made me feel alive again. I acted around her like I acted when I was with my family, more open than I normally was. After all those years of dueling I had learned that you needed to be serious in life to accomplish things but with her I could be another part of myself. Silently looking at each other, observing every move she made, enjoying the simple warmth of her breath on my face, all those little things were more important to me. Just looking at her face brightened up my day. (A/N: Cheesy or does this have another meaning?... I'm not going to tell you, yet :p)

Suddenly the sound of music caught my ear and I put out my hand. "Would you like to dance, Miss Gardner?" I asked.

She nodded and took my hand. We didn't really dance, we just held each other tight, moving in little circles to the rhythm of the music. After a few minutes the song stopped and we both smiled at each other before walking inside again.

"Yami, I guess we should go home, it's already one o'clock and your brother has fallen asleep," my grandfather said as soon as we were in the living room.

I looked down at his curled up body on the couch and took him in my arms.

"Yami, what's happening?" he murmured.

"We're going home," I answered back. He looked around the room and put his hand in the air to wave at everybody, getting a warm smile from Miss Gardner, Serenity and Tea. He really was a heartbreaker, my little brother.

Grandpa walked towards the car and so did I before an arm grabbed me in the doorway.

"Mistletoe!" Tea said while pointing above our heads and I quickly gave her a kiss. Her lips were still cold of being outside so long and so were mine.

"Goodnight bro," she said when she gave Yugi a kiss on his forehead. He smiled a little, half asleep and opened one eye to look at her.

"Goodnight Tea," he yawned.

**(A/N:So, what did you think? Liked my Christmas chapter. I have the habit to listen to music when I'm writing and I should tell you, listening to Christmas songs in the middle of summer is just plain strange! But it helped to keep me in the mood to write this chapter ^^'******

**Sweet, warm summer kisses to my readers! X – hehe, it's like 4.03 am here, so I'm being a bit excited, yes, sometimes I get excited when I'm tired xD, I'm just a bit weird sometimes -)**


	12. The prince and you

** Elle-L: The last couple of weeks I've slept about six hours a day, too occupied writing/reading and I'm going to buy a tablet soon, which means I'm going to start drawing again too…**

** Sara Darkotter: It has been HOT here too! Normally it's like max. 25°C here in Belgium during the summer but the last couple of weeks it has been at least 35… Luckily it has cooled down now, but the sun's gone too :( **

**(A/N: Before I continue, I would like to ask you a question. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to put the whole story about Teana and Atem in this one, I extremely doubt it, so, when I'm done with this one, should I write one about them? According to the dreams used in this story? Please put it in a review ;D )******

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter twelve: The prince and you**

**Yami:**

"Twis is twe bwest meal I've weaten in wyears Mwiss Gwardner," Joey said while gulping his food down his throat. The holidays were almost over and we were all invited to lunch with Tea and her mother. Her father had to leave soon after New Year and he had been gone for about a week now.

"Joseph, don't talk with your mouth full, you really should learn some manners," Mai said.

He gave her a quick look, shrugged his shoulders and swallowed his food. "Sorry."

"It's nothing Joey, I'm glad you like it," Tea's mother said.

"Like it? I LOVE it! It's my favorite dish!"

I looked down at my plate, it was just normal rice with curry sauce and chicken, but to Joey it seemed like the richest meal in the world. But then again, who was I to judge him? A simple hamburger with onion and a little bit of garlic made me almost drool.

"Serenity, where is Tristan?" Tea asked. Joey grumbled something which caused Mai to give him a glare. He still wasn't too happy about his best friend and little sister being a couple but Serenity and Mai had made him clear that he had nothing to say about it and being Joey, he listened to them.

"He couldn't make it," she answered, putting her fork into her mouth.

Tea looked at her friend and then raised an eyebrow to Mai who shook her head, it was nothing important, he probably already had plans.

"Joey, I've heard that it's your birthday in a few weeks," her mother said, trying get a conversation going.

"Yes, but I'm not going to throw a big party like Mai did, I'll keep it small, besides it's in the middle of the week, I can't go out late then."

"You're right Joey, you could all use your sleep very well during school. It's your last year and you have to do your best. But on the other hand this is probably the last year you'll all be together…" she stopped talking when Tea gave her a quick look and I raised an eyebrow. Mai spotted it and she gave a meaningful look to Tea who smiled a little at me.

They were hiding something from me and I knew it, I could feel it in the air.

"How are your brother and grandfather doing, Yami?" Miss. Gardner asked, getting my attention immediately but not before I could see a big sigh escaping Tea's lips.

**Tea:**

I walked outside in the cold rain, but I didn't mind. I needed it, I needed to set my mind off of things. My arms were crossed around my navy blue jacket and my hairs came out my matching hat . My black scarf and gloves kept me warm too as my winter boots walked through the tiny ponds on the ground, making little waves. The sound of a motorcycle caught my attention and I looked to my left, seeing Tristan had stopped next to me.

"Hey Tea, what are you doing here?" he asked, taking of his helmet.

"I just needed to cool off a bit," I answered, smiling at him.

"Sorry I couldn't make it, I had to go to lunch with my grandmother. She had been whining about it for weeks and I couldn't cancel it." The look in his eyes told me he was really sorry.

"It's no big deal, Tristan. Besides, I wouldn't want your grandmother to come and cry at my door because she isn't able to see her little baby," I teased him while pinching one of his cheeks.

"Yeah, I imagine her doing that… Anyway, I have to go now, I was about to see Serenity." He put his helmet back one and drove away, leaving me alone again.

I wandered through the streets for half an hour after that and I was already soaked to bottom, still not caring. My little talk with Tristan hadn't changed my thoughts. When I came close to the park I decided to sit down on a bench underneath a tree, it was drier there.

How was I going to tell Yami? I couldn't tell Yami, I couldn't tell him I was going to leave. I had gotten a letter a few days ago, from a famous dancing school in New York. Last summer I had done a summer program there and they wanted me to come and study there after I finished high school.

It had been my dream ever since I was a little girl but everything was different now, I had Yami to think about. He had feelings too, I couldn't hurt him by leaving him, I just couldn't.

I closed my eyes when a tear ran down my cheek, I had to be strong, for him. For my friends and family, I couldn't show them my weakness, he was my weakness. The only way someone could ever hurt me was by taking him away and I knew it was exactly the same with him.

"Oh, Yami," I whispered when I wiped away some tears. I kept sitting on the bench, listening to the sound of the rain, soaked from top to bottom in the cold winter air when I drifted off in a dream.

_"Atem, I want you to go and train with Mahad and Shimon and you can't come back until you mastered the Duel Monsters Game and your magic, understood?"___

_The Pharaoh's words were locked in my head, Atem had been gone for almost a few months now. Although I wasn't allowed to love the Prince, I did miss him, a lot.___

_"Alright, now all turn to the left," I said. The little children in front of me did as they were told and continued to practice the dance. Somehow I was put in charge after the old woman became mad at me the last time and I was certain Atem had made sure of that. A little smile appeared on my face when I thought of him and his crimson eyes, his cape ruffling in the wind and his strong arms moving with every step he took.___

_"Miss Teana, is this the right position?" a little girl in front of me asked.___

_She had dark black hairs and brown eyes which were so dark they were almost black. Her mother had named her after that color, Kanika. (A/N: This is just a character I made up :P)___

_I went over to the little girl, adjusted her arms a little and nodded. "You're a very good student."__  
__She smiled widely at me and she turned her head when we both heard someone enter.___

_"Teana?" the brown haired girl asked, I remembered her name was Mana.___

_"The Pharaoh has asked for you, he would like you to come to the pool and bring some food and other clothes."___

_I nodded. "Could you look after the little ones for a while, please?" I bowed a little, I knew she was a friend of Atem and she wasn't really a servant but a close friend of the family. Of course, everyone acted like a servant when it came to the Pharaoh.___

_"Of course," she said and she bowed a little bit back, which startled me.___

_I ran out of the room and went to one of the quarters where the clothes were kept, finding no one in there I just took some clothes and went out again to get some food. I wondered what to pick, since in the kitchen of the royal palace there were loads of food but I could remember that the Pharaoh just liked to have a little snack when he was in the pool. I took some bread, figs and dates with me and a little can of water. It wasn't easy to hold all of these in my own, but I managed. I swung the clothes over my shoulders and took a stone plate to carry the food on.___

_Going to the pool meant going through some of the most beautiful hallways in the palace. There were stone drawings all over but there was one I found the most appealing. It was a drawing of Atem himself, as a little kid, and it seemed very good, which made me wonder who made it in the first place.___

_I couldn't hear a sound except for the crashing of waves against the boulders which stood next to the pool and I wondered where the other servants were. The Pharaoh wore a cap over his head, and had his back turned to me but he didn't react when I came closer.___

_"I've brought the things you asked for, my Pharoah," I said and suddenly he grabbed me by the arms and less than a second later I was soaked from top to bottom, standing in the pool.___

_"Hello Teana," I heard his voice whisper and my heart skipped a beat.___

_His hands were around my waist and he pulled me closer to his body, my back against his chest.___

_"Missed me?" he asked when one of his fingers trailed down from my neck to my collar bone and up again.___

_I couldn't react at first, I had never been so close to him before and it felt so right and wrong at the same time. When I turned around I looked into his crimson eyes and I could tell he was happy.___

_"Why didn't you tell me you were back, Atem?" I asked, taking a step backwards. Although it felt good to be with him, I also knew that no one should see us in here. If they told the Pharaoh we would both be punished.___

_"I wanted to surprise you," he said while shrugging his shoulders.___

_I smiled a little and turned to get out of the pool. I was stuck here now, since I had to wait until my clothes were dry again, no one could know I took a step into the water. He took one of my hands and pulled me towards him through the water.___

_"Teana," he said. His right hand was still holding mine while his left was caressing my cheek.__  
__The look in his crimson eyes suddenly changed. "Someone's coming," he whispered. I nodded and got out of the pool and he soon followed.___

_"Go and sit on your knees," he whispered, almost too silent for me to hear. He crouched down next to me and he laid his hand upon one of my shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked.___

_I nodded once, realizing that he was covering up the fact that I was wet.___

_"Atem, there you are." We both turned around and his father stood a few feet from us. "What happened?" He gave us a questioning look.___

_"She tripped into the pool," the young man next to me answered. If I didn't know the truth I would even believe him, his voice sounded so serious and calm that it was impossible to doubt his words.___

_"I see, anyway I want you to come to the grand hall in two hours, alright?"___

_"Yes, father," he said and he bowed a little and so did I.___

_After a few minutes Atem stood up and took my hand to pull me onto my feet.___

_"I told you you didn't have to worry. I went to train remember, I can control my magic powers now, I know if someone's coming." He caressed my cheek again and I felt weak in the knees.___

_"Atem, we can't," I whispered for the hundredth time.___

_"I know," he replied with a little smile on his face. "But what if I don't want to follow the rules?"___

_His lips came closer to mine and my hands got rid of his cap in the process, I loved his hair and I had a sudden urge to go through it with my hands. We stood there for the next two hours in a tight embrace, giving each other a passionate kiss._

**Yami:**

She laid down in her bed and suddenly stopped shivering. I had found her in the park after her mother told me she had gone for a walk. Her body felt ice cold but somehow she seemed to warm up now. The heat was on in her bedroom and her mother had put her on some new clothes and I tucked her in with five blankets around her but somehow she didn't wake up in the process, it made me worry.

"The rules," she murmured in her sleep and my head shot up to look at her. She was alright, I knew she was.

She turned around and I could see her face now. "Follow the rules my prince, follow the rules," she murmured again, frowning a little.

My heart skipped a beat when she said 'my prince', but I didn't realize why. I looked down at my Millennium Puzzle, thinking I had seen a faint glow but it had probably been my imagination.

"Tea?" I whispered when she started to murmur again.

A little yawn escaped her lips and she took the blankets closer to her body, she was still cold. I stood up and took the blankets of her to lie down next to her. A little bit of protest came out of her mouth when I took them but she soon remained silent when she clung to my sweater and cuddled herself closer to my chest.

"You smell like him," she murmured and I noticed that she was sniffing.

"I smell like who?" I asked, wondering who she was talking about.

"The prince," she murmured still half asleep. "Prince Atem."

My eyes widened in shock. Was she dreaming about Atem again? Someone else would've felt jealous, knowing that his girlfriend dreamed of someone else but I didn't, my heart skipped a beat when she said that. Deep inside of me I felt an unknown happiness and I smiled at the young woman in my arms.

"Go back to sleep Tea," I whispered into her ear.

"Mmh," she moaned, leaning her head onto my chest and searching for my hand under the blanket with hers.

I took her hand in mine and she smiled a little, content with the position we were in and so was I. Soon she drifted back into her dream and occasionally she would murmur something which made my heart skip a beat in an unknown way.

"Like Yami, like the prince," she sighed, taking my hand tighter in hers. I listened to the words she was saying and tried to figure out what she meant.

"One soul," she murmured again and somewhere in the back of my head it rang a bell. There was something about my soul, but I couldn't remember what it was but somehow I knew that Tea would help me finding out.

**Tea:**

_I was standing into a white room. The ceiling and the walls were painted white while the tiles reflected everything on them, they were so clean they were more like a mirror. I looked up and saw Atem and Yami standing right in front of me, both wearing the Millennium Puzzle. A faint glow came around it and the view seemed to change, it was like they emerged into one being.___

_"Yami?" I whispered.___

_He nodded once.___

_"Where is Atem?" This sounded really dumb, I was losing my mind. Two persons couldn't emerge into one, that was just nonsense.___

_His hand went to his Millennium Puzzle and took it tight when I suddenly heard Ishizu's words in my head. 'His soul, your soul.'___

_"One soul," I said and the young man in front of me nodded.___

_"You have the Key," he said to me right before he disappeared into thin air.___

_"The key?" I said out loud to myself. The key to what? A little frown appeared on my forehead. "I must be dreaming." I shook my head a few times and tried to wake myself up, which eventually worked. (A/N: I don't know, I'm always able to wake myself up when I realize that I'm dreaming? xD)_

As soon as I woke up I could feel something soft beneath my head, and it smelled delicious. I couldn't remember having a pillow like that… When I opened my eyes I noticed that two crimson ones were looking down at me.

"Hey there beautiful," he said.

"Hey." I laid my head back down onto his chest and noticed our fingers were strangled. I could wake up like this every morning…


	13. Remembering

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Chapter thirteen: Remembering**

**Yami:**

"Yami, I'm free!" Joey was jumping in the air and waving with his arms but I saw Seto running towards him to block him.

"Tristan!" I shouted and I threw the ball towards him. He jumped in the air and could catch it easily since the person who was blocking him was two heads shorter than him.

I ran towards the ring, followed by Ryo, and Tristan was getting in trouble, we were all blocked by someone at this moment. He turned around, he was standing in the middle of the field and he was aiming towards the ring.

"You've got to be kidding me Tristan!" Joey shouted, still trying to get away from Seto.

"I'm not," Tristan said. He was very serious and closed his eyes a few inches and then threw the ball. The whole room was looking as the ball fell through the ring.

"Well done Tristan, well done," the teacher shouted and he was writing down something on his papers. The tall brown haired boy walked over to us to give us a high-five and even Ryo did, although he was on the other team.

"You won't be lucky this time," Seto answered with a smirk on his face.

He dribbled past everyone of us and scored. "That's how it's done," he said.

"Listen to me, you money bag!" Joey shouted. "I don't need you to tell me how things should be done. Who has a beautiful girlfriend here? Yami does, Tristan does and even I do, the 'dog' as you call me. What makes that of you, huh?"

Seto just smirked back at him. "I don't need a woman to take care of me," he said.

"No, you have enough servants for that," Joey answered. They were standing very close and I thought Joey was going to hit him any moment now.

"That's enough Joe." Tristan tossed the ball to Ryo and stepped in between the two young men, pushing them away from each other.

"Stupid Kaiba," Joey muttered when walking towards me.

**Tea:**

"What's Joey doing?"

I turned around and followed Mai's gaze. The boys were playing basketball and it seemed as if Joey was getting very angry at Kaiba, as always. Tristan stepped between them and pushed them away from each other, right in time. I knew Joey, he was about to hit him any minute now.

"I don't like it when he gets into fights," Mai murmured. "Unless he fights for me of course." She gave me a quick wink and we both started to laugh.

"Rebecca, go and get the boys will you, we're going to do some running after the girls here finished," the teacher said.

The blonde girl nodded and ran towards the boys.

"How much longer are we going to be in this position?" someone grumbled.

We were doing some exercises in small groups. Five minutes ago we had been doing some high jumping but now we were making a pyramid. Mai was climbing and I soon followed to be on the top.

"Good Tea," the teacher said. "Now go and stand on your feet." I nodded and tried to get up which made Mai curse.

"Damn it Tea, that's a bone you know."

"Sorry," I muttered.

I didn't like to be on top but somehow they had forced me because I was the smallest and had the least amount of weight.

"Just one more step, Tea," the teacher said. I nodded and found the courage to continue when I heard someone underneath me sneeze.

"O crap."

Before I knew it I was tumbling down and I prepared myself to hit the ground but I was caught by two strong arms.

"I thought you already fell for me, Tea," the crimson eyed boy said. Suddenly his eyes widened but it was too late, the rest of the pyramid fell down too and someone hit him against his legs which caused us to hit the ground.

"Yami, are you okay?" I asked, looking at his face.

A little frown was on his forehead. "Tea, could you move your knee?"

I looked down and a little blush appeared on my face. "Sorry," I muttered.

He sat up at and smiled a little when he looked to his right. Kaiba was lying on the ground too and Mai was right at his feet.

"Well well Mai, I never thought you would literally kiss my feet," he smirked.

She looked up at him and grumbled. "Joseph!" she shouted. "Get me off of this floor!"

Joey ran towards her, giving Kaiba an angry glare and helping her up.

"Like I said, you're just a dog," Kaiba answered when getting onto his feet. (A/N: Sorry for the Kaiba-lovers who read this story, I love Kaiba too! But I'm just trying to keep him a little in character)

"Take that back, now!" Joey was waving his fist in the air.

"Or what?" he smirked.

Joey was about to lose it and he swung his fist right towards Kaiba's face.

"Hmm, I thought you were actually going to hit me." He sounded a bit disappointed but that was just to mock with Joey who's fist was now in Kaiba's hand. After that he let go and walked outside, leaving an angry Joey.

"Are you nuts? You shouldn't hit Kaiba," Mai said.

"So you're going to defend him now?" Joey snapped back.

"Joey, you know it's not like that…"

"Don't you Joey me!" He stood up and left soon after Kaiba, his hands in the pockets of his black short and hitting a basketball on his way out.

"Why does he always get mad when Kaiba is around?" Mai asked, getting onto her feet.

"I think it has something to do with Serenity," I said.

"Serenity?" Tristan asked. Everybody turned around and gave me a questioning look.

"She had a crush on Kaiba when we were little and well… He hurt her pretty bad, Joey never forgave him," I answered. (A/N: Once again, I'm very sorry, I do love silentshipping )

"Sounds to me you'll have to look out, Tristan," a tall dark haired guy laughed. I remember his name being Duke.

"I would never hurt Serenity, I'm not cold hearted like Kaiba," he answered and we all went outside to do some running.

**Yami:**

"Hey Joey, it's almost your birthday, what would you like to have?" Tea asked when putting her tray down onto the table.

I moved a little so she could sit next to me. Joey sat next to me across from Mai. They hadn't spoken since he had yelled at her but everything would soon be okay again, they loved each other too much to stay mad. Tristan was sitting at my opposite side, letting Serenity's head rest onto his shoulder while he was putting some chips into his mouth.

"Why don't you wipe that smirk of Kaiba's face," he grumbled. I had never seen Joey so mad and certainly not longer than a few seconds.

He took a piece of pizza in his hand and was going to take a bite when Seto just walked by, overhearing our conversation.

"Don't you need dog food, twerp?" he asked.

Joey got up immediately, Mai grabbing a glass which would fell down if she didn't and Serenity tugging at her Tristan's jacket, telling him to pay attention. "It's okay Joey, sit down," she said. She looked up into her brother's eyes but he didn't look back, he was pointing daggers at Seto.

"I won't give him the satisfaction," he grumbled.

A big sigh escaped Tea's lips and she stood up. "Seto," she said in a calm voice. "I would appreciate it if you left Joey alone. We always do our best to accept your privacy and we're not walking around school, holding camera's in our hands to take pictures of you whenever you do something wrong or embarrassing, we leave you alone too. We don't judge you for who you are but for what you do and it's time you start realizing that. Now, I would like to enjoy my meal so I suggest you think about what I said and leave."

He looked down at her and a smirk appeared on his face, I didn't like it when he used it on her.

"You really think you know me, don't you?" Their faces were only a few inches apart and I had the sudden urge to stand between them. There was something familiar about their position, I didn't like it one bit.

"I don't think so Seto, I know so. I've seen how you act when you're around your little brother."

A shocked expression appeared on his face but he became calm again after a few seconds.

"Whatever, Tea." He turned around, holding his tray and walked away from us, not wanting to pay any attention anymore.

She watched him walk away before she sat down again, another sigh escaping her lips.

"You didn't have to stand up for me, Tea," Joey said.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I grew tired of him mocking my friends long ago. Someone needs to tell him the truth."

This was another side of Tea I often saw, she was always there to protect her friends because she believed in our friendship. A little smile played around my lips but only Serenity spotted it.

**Tea:**

"This is the Red eyes black dragon," Mr. Solomon said.

I took it in my hands and studied it. It seemed like the perfect birthday present for Joey. "I'll take it."

"Tea, I'll pay it," Yami said. He was already taking his wallet out of his pocket. I knew that he was rich but I didn't like the idea of him paying for my stuff.

I shook my head. "I'll buy this one, he's my best friend too."

He smiled at me and I took out some cash to pay Yami's grandfather. Today it was the 25th of January, Joey's birthday. (A/N: Jeej, Joey and I share a birthday month xD)

"Now hurry up or you two will be late," the old man in front of me said. I smiled at him and took Yami by his hand, leading him outside. Yugi always took the buss to school so we didn't have to drop him off.

As always Yami would open the passenger door for me and I would wait until we were gone before I spoke. Every time I sat down into his car I led my fingers slide over the leather material over his seats, I liked it.

"So, what did you buy Joey?" I asked when he looked from right to left, to see if there wasn't a car approaching us.

He pulled out his wallet and gave it to me. When I opened it a cute, orange dragon looked at me and so did a strange clock, The Baby Dragon and Time Wizard.

"You know what they do, right?" he asked, stopping at a red light.

I nodded. "If you play them together you get the Thousand Dragon and the Time Wizard can also weaken your opponents monsters since it has the power to go through time and make them much older."

He turned his head to give me a quick look and smiled at me. He liked it when I knew things about dueling. But to be honest, I secretly listened to everything people around me said so I knew a lot about it.

"He has become a strong duelist the last few months, my grandpa and I trained him. He'll like these cards, I'm sure he will. He plays with warriors mostly but I know that he likes dragons too." He pushed his gas when the light turned green and I saw a woman, tapping to the ground with her feet, clearly waiting until the light turned red again so she could cross the street.

"Yeah, Joey has improved," I agreed. After all this time he was finally able to beat me and Mai, he was getting stronger and I was happy for him. I remember how disappointed he could be after losing a battle against Mai but now she was the one who was disappointed.

The rest of the drive happened in silence as we drove to school, both thinking about different things. My mind always drifted off to the dancing school in New York, still not knowing to accept the offer or not.

**Yami:**

"Red eyes black dragon," Joey read out loud when Tea gave him the card. "Is it me or does it sound the same as Kaiba's?"

I nodded and explained him. "The Red eyes black dragon is the counterpart of the Blue eyes white dragon. Where the Blue eyes stands for power, the Red eyes stands for potential and Joey my friend, you have a lot. It's not as strong as Seto's dragon but I thought you might like it."

He smiled at me and gave Tea a hug. "Thanks." After he pulled out his deck he immediately put the card into it.

"I have some too," I said. I took out my wallet and pulled out the Baby Dragon and Time Wizard. "They don't seem strong but when you put them together you can summon the Thousand Dragon."

"They seem awesome, Yami! Thanks."

Mai smiled as she saw Joey acting like a little kid when he got his birthday presents, somehow everyone had given him a card to add to his deck. Mai had given him the Flame Swordsman, his favorite card, Tristan gave him the Lava Battleguard because Joey had the Swamp Battleguard. If you put those two cards together on the field they would become much stronger. His little sister had given him another strong cared named the Sword Hunter and he already ran through the hallways, challenging people to a duel.

We all laughed as we ran towards our first class, spotting loads of people raising an eyebrow when Joey was waving with his cards in front of them.

"Mr. Ishtar, you have to look at this," he said when we walked into the room. Our history teacher turned around and looked at the cards in front of him.

"Very impressive Joey, but now you should sit down and remain calm, you're scaring people."

A little blush appeared on his face and he quickly ran over to me to take his seat.

Tea and Mai were sitting next to us and during the whole lesson I could see her giving strange looks at our teacher. She looked at him with a questioning look on her face. Mr. Ishtar had noticed it too and he tried not to make eye contact with her.

"Tea, what's the matter?" I whispered.

She turned her head and blinked a few times. "Nothing, I was just thinking about something." She smiled a little and turned around again when she suddenly got a surprised look in her eyes. I followed her gaze and I could see a golden item lying on the teachers' desk. It had the same eye as my Millennium Puzzle so I assumed it was a Millennium Item. He probably got it back from Ishizu when we went to the Art Museum.

Tea's hand went up in the air and Mr. Ishtar turned to her.

"Yes Tea?" His voice sounded a bit concerned and I wondered why.

"According to the legend, what does your Millennium Item do?" She pointed towards the golden rod and everyone started to look at the front.

"It doesn't have a power, Tea. Now I would like to continue with our lesson." I could see that he tried to remain his calm but it wasn't really working.

"That's not true, you told us every Millennium Item had an ability," she said, not listening to him.

"Tea, I would really appreciate it if I could continue my lesson." He walked over to his desk and took it in his hands. "There is really nothing about this Millennium Rod, it has been in my family for ages, nothing more nothing less." He finally made eye contact with Tea and he laid the scepter back down.

"I see, I'm sorry for troubling you Mr. Ishtar."

Before I could turn around to talk to Tea, Joey got my attention.

"Hey, why's your Puzzle glowing?"

I looked down and I could see he was right. There was a feint glow around it and I hadn't noticed it before. I turned around to tell Tea about it but I saw that her eyes had a blank expression and she just stared at the man in front of the classroom.

"It's okay Tea," the teacher answered.

She nodded and kept on staring to him.

"Hey Tea." I nudged her arm and she looked at me, the blank expression suddenly gone.

"Yes Yami?" she smiled a little.

I looked down again but to my surprise the glow was gone, as if snapping her out of her daydream made the Item back to normal.

"Never mind…" I answered. There was something wrong, and it had something to do with my Millennium Item, I could feel it. But then again, I didn't believe in such nonsense, did I?  
I suddenly remembered Tea's words when she was dreaming. _'One soul' 'You smell like him, like Atem' 'Like Yami, like the prince.'_

There was indeed something wrong, I could remember it now. The talk we had with Ishizu and Mr. Ishtar, there was only one soul, my soul and Atem's soul, they were the same. My thoughts were interrupted by a cell phone, going off in the classroom.

Our teacher excused himself and picked it up.

"Yes?" he said to the person on the other side.

He suddenly got a scared look in his eyes and looked over to me. When he noticed I was staring at him he turned around, trying to hide his expression.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I see. Yes, that's the only explanation. Of course I will."

He ended the call and turned back to the room. "Class dismissed, Yami, I need you to stay here for a few minutes."


	14. Part of me

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter fourteen: Part of me**

Everyone walked out of the classroom and I stood at Mr. Ishtar's desk. His Millennium Rod was still lying next to him and he waited until the door closed and everyone was gone before he spoke again.

"So, you remember?" he asked, looking at some papers on his table. I noticed that they weren't filled in but he took a pen and started to write things down.

"Yes." He still didn't look at me, as if he was lost in his thoughts, thinking about what to say next.

"How?" he asked. I knew this question was going to come, of course he wanted to know how I remembered him and Ishizu, telling me and Tea about Atem. I remembered her having the same dream as me and I wondered if that had a meaning.

"Because of Tea."

He looked up, this time meeting my eyes and I could see confusion in his.

"Tea? So she did remember…" he murmured. I remembered when we came back from the Art Museum, she was looking to him with a strange expression on her face, as if she was thinking about something and he had clearly seen it too.

"I don't know, I just had to think of something she told me." Maybe I should ask her if she remembered, just to be sure.

"What exactly did she tell you?" He seemed more interested now, he was trying to figure out how much I knew, how much _we_ knew.

"She wasn't exactly talking to me, she was murmuring in her sleep. She told me I smelled like him, like Atem and after a while she started to babble about 'one soul'. I didn't really figure it out back then, just now a few moments ago."

The expression in his eyes was now shocked, as if he suddenly realized something but I just continued.

"When there was a glow around my Millennium Puzzle I wanted to talk to her but when she looked at me it suddenly stopped, I don't know why." It sure was strange, I couldn't have imagined it, could I? Joey had seen it too, no, it wasn't just my imagination.

"That's what made the change," he murmured.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Ishizu's necklace has the power to look into the future and she told me you wouldn't remember nor would Tea but it was your Millennium Puzzle that changed it…"

"My Millennium Puzzle? How could a pendant change the future? And more importantly, why?" All these questions were filling my head and every second new ones emerged with the old ones.

"Yami tell me, do you remember the last time you had a feint glow around your Puzzle?" He was looking down at his papers again, writing something down. I suddenly realized that it was in a language I didn't know.

"Yes, it was in the buss." Although it didn't really happen, since Ishizu and Mr. Ishtar reversed the time, it was still a part of my memory. It was strange, now that I had realized what had happened, it seemed as if all the blank spots in my head were filled in.

"Exactly. Now, do you remember what power my Millennium Item has?" He looked back to me and his expression was neutral again. My arms were leaning onto the desk and I was slightly hovering over him. If someone opened the door now they probably thought I was being mad at him or trying to intimidate him.

"It's able to control minds and read them… Wait a second, did you use it on Tea? Is that why she dropped her question and had that blank expression in her eyes?"

"Yes, I did. But it was for your own good." I didn't like the fact of him using his powers on Tea, and certainly not that blank expression in her eyes as if she was somewhere else instead of right near me.

A growl escaped my lips. "My own good? Why?"

"Because you have to solve this alone, not with my help. Telling Tea would have triggered something in your head, but it seems that it is already too late now. But we're dwelling off. Do you remember what you dreamed in the buss?"

I nodded once and tried to remain calm. "Tea was attacked and I couldn't save her…" The thought of not being able to protect her almost crushed me, the blank expression in her ocean-like eyes hurt me.

"Tell me the look in her eyes, Yami." His voice sounded demanding, as if he wanted me to think of it.

"Blank…" I murmured, trying to get the image out of my head. Now I knew how it came there, I didn't want to see it ever again. "Like a few minutes ago. Is that why my puzzle glows?"

He nodded. "It reacts on what happens around you and it seems that every time Tea is in control of a Millennium Item it reacts, it wants to protect her."

I raised an eyebrow. "But how can it protect her and why would it? I mean, I love her but I can protect her myself, I don't need my Milllennium Puzzle to do so."

A little smile appeared on the man's face. He shook his head, he wanted to tell me that I was getting it all wrong. "Imagine yourself as a little kid Yami and someone was trying to steal the key to your diary, what would you do?"

"Protect it, I wouldn't want anyone to know my secrets." Before I could ask him why he asked this he continued.

"What if a thief tried to steal your house keys, what would you do?" His smile was still playing on his lips and his eyes seemed a bit impatient, as if he was waiting for me to realize what was going on.

"Protect it. But what do you mean with all of this?" His smile widened and he looked back to the paper on his desk.

"It means that your Millennium Puzzle is protecting its key, the key to its most precious contents. "

"Tea is the key? But how? And what if she is able to open it?" More and more questions were flooding my mind, normally I would've gotten a headache but this time it was different. I didn't want to know the answers, I _needed_ to know the answers.

"I don't have any answers to that Yami, you have the key, now it's your turn to find out how to use it." He seemed a little bit amused by this but I wouldn't give up so soon.

"Then tell me, how does my Millennium Puzzle protect her?" If it was able to protect her than I needed to know how.

"It protects her by warning you. Every time someone hurts her, even in your dreams, your Millennium Puzzle reacts to it. Do you know why she couldn't wake you up?"

"No." I hadn't really thought about this before but now he mentioned it, it sure was strange.

"Your Millennium Puzzle held you in your dream so you could protect her. I could only break it's shield with my Millennium Item but it cost me a lot of energy. Your Millennium Puzzle is probably the most powerful Item of them all. That's why it has a key to unlock its true powers."

"It's true powers?" I asked.

"Yami, do you remember your last dream? I've seen it in your mind, I've seen what you were capable off."

I could feel myself frowning when I tried to remember the dream correctly when suddenly it all came back. "I was able to hear my father coming, before Tea did."

He shook his head. "You weren't able to hear him, you were able to feel him. Now imagine that power, locked in your soul. What would it do to you? It would make you a magician again, it has the powers of a mighty Pharaoh, it has your powers, Yami. You only need to unlock it, with its key."

"But why did it choose Tea?" That was the main question, why Tea? Why not a normal key? Why not a spell, why not an old legend?

"The puzzle didn't choose Tea, Atem did, you did." He looked up to me and I could see my own shocked expression in his eyes.

"Why?" I needed to know why I had chosen Tea, I only knew her a few months… No, that wasn't true, I knew her almost three thousand years. But why had I picked her back then? To be the key?

"Only you know the answer to that, Yami. You can go now, there is a lot you have to think about and your next lesson is going to start in five minutes." He said while looking at his watch. He took some books out and I stood up, not leaning on his desk anymore.

"Yes, thank you for the information." I walked towards the door and right before I opened it Mr. Ishtar spoke again.

"And Yami, I suggest you don't tell anyone about this." His voice seemed a bit demanding, but I would do as I was told.

"No, of course not, but can I tell Tea?"

"That's something you will have to decided yourself." He smiled a little, encouraging maybe, and I knew why. What would happen if I told this to Tea? How would she react?

I nodded and walked into the hallway, not surprised to see Tea waiting for me. She gave me a questioning look and I nodded to tell her everything was okay. A little smile appeared on her lips and she gently brushed her hand against mine. We didn't need words, I knew what she was saying, she would always be there when I had a problem.

I shook my head, suddenly realizing why everything seemed so normal around her. How she could tell what I meant without me saying it. I thought it was love, and maybe it was, at least for a part. But what if it had something to do with her being the key. What if she could really read my soul, that she knew exactly who I was deep inside of her?

**Tea:**

Ever since his talk with Mr. Ishtar Yami had been lost in his thoughts. He barely spoke to us, which annoyed Joey because it was his birthday.

"Hey, are you guys still coming?" he asked when we walked towards the parking lot.

I nodded and looked over to Yami who nodded too. His body was here and he listened to what we were saying but his mind was somewhere else, I could feel it. Occasionally he would look down to his Millennium Puzzle and hold it in his hand, turn it a few times and let go of it again. I knew there was something wrong but I was smart enough not to ask, he would tell me when he was ready.

"Are you sure you still want to go tonight?" I asked a bit unsure when we got into the car.

"Of course Tea, I just have a lot on my mind." He put his key in the contact and a big sigh escaped my lips. He wasn't going to tell me what was wrong but then again, I hadn't told him either.

My elbow was resting at the side of the window and my head leaned on my hand. I watched as everything became a blur. Houses, lightning rods, trees, people, everything just flew by.

"Tea, you don't have to think I'm mad at you," he suddenly said. "I do have a lot on my mind and I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell you."

I turned my head and smiled a little at him. "It doesn't matter Yami, tell me whenever you want to."

I didn't wait for him to smile back, if he was going to. I just rested my head back onto my hand and kept looking outside. I had problems of my own right now, and I wasn't sure to tell him or not. I had wanted to tell him but seeing him now I didn't think he was able to handle it.

The letter told me that I had to know my answer before the 1st of March so I still had a few weeks left to think about it. Another sigh escaped my lips and I gave Yami a quick look. He was frowning a little and his hands were not holding the steering wheel, they were almost crushing it.

"Yami, are you sure everything is okay?"

The frown disappeared immediately and he smiled a little at me, loosening his grip on the wheel. "Of course Tea, I would tell you if it wasn't."

I looked back outside, suddenly realizing I had to take a shift at work today. "You can drop me off here," I said.

He hit the brakes and gave me a questioning look. "Tea, what's the matter? Are you mad at me?"

I started to laugh. "Of course not silly, I just remembered I had to work until six today, do you mind picking me up after that so I can go home and change?"

He smiled relieved, knowing that I wasn't mad at him and nodded. "I'll pick you up at six then."

I opened the door to get out, we were only a few buildings further than the Burger King so I only had to walk about half a minute. When my right foot wanted to step onto the sidewalk Yami suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Tea, you know that I'll always protect you, right?" The look in his eyes was serious and the sound of his voice was sincere, if he hadn't grabbed my arm I would melt down to the ground right now.

"Of course I know, why…" before I could continue he had already pulled me back into the car and was holding my face with his hands.

"And you know that I love you, although I don't tell you often?" He kept looking at me with his crimson eyes focused on my blue ones and I didn't know what to answer, but I didn't need to once his lips crushed down on mine. It was the most passionate kiss he had ever given me, as if he wanted to strengthen his words, but he didn't need to, I knew he was telling me the truth.

I felt breathless when his lips parted mine but I managed to speak again. "That was… different," I said.

An amused smile played around his lips. "Different is good sometimes."

**Yami:**

We were sitting at Joey's favorite bar, celebrating his birthday and I tried to go along with it but my mind always drifted off to Mr. Ishtar's words. Tea was the key...

For the hundredths time that day I took my Millennium Puzzle in my hands. I had studied it all day long, trying to remember something about it but I failed once more.

"Yami, I want my best friend to be happy on my birthday," Joey said. He sounded a bit drunk and he was frowning. "Why are you being like this all day? Because Tea told you she's leaving?" He asked. (A/N: I don't know what the allowed age to drink is where you are… Here it's 16, so I just let Joey drink.)

I felt Tea's muscles tense and my eyes shot up at her. "Leaving?"

"Joseph, come here with your big mouth," Mai said, pulling him towards the dance floor and giving him an angry glare.

The young woman next to me looked down at the glass in her hands and a sigh escaped her lips. "I don't know if I'm going to leave, Yami." She drank from her coke and put it down on the bar behind her. Tristan and Serenity got up, trying to give us some privacy.

"Then what was Joey talking about?" I asked, still looking at her but somehow she didn't look at me.

"Do you remember when I told you I did a summer program in a dancing school?" she asked.

I nodded when I remembered one of the many conversations we had when we were getting to know each other in the beginning of the school year.

"It was in New York, Yami. They want me to go there after High School…" She was still looking down at her hands, not wanting to look at me.

"Tea," I said while taking her chin in one of my hands so she was forced to look at me. "I don't get the problem. It's great that you get an opportunity like that!"

She gave me a questioning look. "Yami, New York is miles and miles away from here. I won't be able to see you anymore…"

I couldn't help but to laugh which caused Tea to raise an eyebrow. "Tea, sometimes I think you forget who I am. I am the Duel King, you know. If you want me to visit you, I have the money to do so."

Her face brightened up immediately and I could see her arms wanting to give me a hug but she quickly pulled back, knowing I didn't like that in public.

Suddenly I realized why, it wasn't the fact that I didn't like it, it was because a part of me still thought we couldn't do so. Atem could never show his love towards Teana and now I had the feeling I couldn't do so either.

"Yami, are you okay?" Tea asked, waving her hand in front of me.

I blinked a few times, trying to regain my thoughts and smiled at her.

"Yeah, but I think I'm going to need some air." I stood up and took my jacket and somehow she knew that she shouldn't follow me, that I needed some time alone.

It was still rather cold outside, although it was almost February and I put my hands into my pockets to keep them warm. There were no clouds at the sky tonight and I looked down at my Millennium Puzzle in the feint glow of the moonlight.

"I need to figure this out before I'm going mad," I murmured to myself.

Loads of questions had filled my mind that day and a few answers but I was only sure of one thing. Atem was a part of me, if I liked it or not.


	15. Valentine's day

**(A/N: I want to thank my lovely readers, you, for the reviews, you really keep me going! Lots of loveee ****)******

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Chapter fifteen: Valentine's day**

**Tea:**

"I really don't know why I'm still doing this job," I murmured when getting into the car. Every Saturday I needed to work at the Burger World and I didn't like it one bit, maybe I should just quit and look for another job…

As if Yami was hearing my thoughts he answered me when he got in at his side of the car. "Tea, just quit if you don't like it. I'm sure you can find something else."

He smiled a little at me and I faintly smiled back, I was too tired to think of anything else than my warm and soft bed at the moment.

"Tea, I want to take you out on a date," Yami suddenly said. He didn't look at me because it was raining outside and he needed to pay attention to the road but I could see the hopeful look in his eyes.

"A date, why?" I asked, very interested and suddenly not so tired anymore. I never grew tired of Yami, certainly not if we went on a date.

A little chuckle came out of his mouth and I raised an eyebrow. Was I forgetting something?

"Tea, tell me, what day is it today." I could hear the amusing tone in his voice, he was in a very good mood today.

"It's Saturday," I answered, not really realizing where this was going.

He rolled his eyes and gave me a quick look before focusing on the road again. "The date, Tea."

I remembered Joey's birthday and started to count on my fingers, trying to figure out how many weeks had passed when my eyes suddenly shot open. After all my time spending at work, school and dancing since I had to be prepared for New York I had lost track of time.

"Oh no, Yami! I totally forgot! Quick, stop at the mall, I need to get you something." I was already looking out of the window, trying to figure out if we were far from the mall or not.

"Tea," he took my hand into his, his eyes still focusing on the road. "You're the only thing I need." (A/N: Cheesy, I know, but you can't blame a girl, can you?)

I blinked a few times in surprise and I could feel my heart stop for a second before it started to beat again, much faster than it had been before.

"But what should I wear? I mean, I'm not prepared, I don't even have a dress! I'm not going to wear that green one I wore for Mai's birthday, it's too cold. And I'm certainly not going to wear the white one, I remember the last time, at Christmas. When my mom and I were cleaning I got chocolate sauce all over it, it's a pain to wash it out again, did you know that? Yami, couldn't you have told me earlier? I mean I can't go somewhere with you and look like a tramp or a…"

I got interrupted by his finger on my lips. "You always talk too much when you're getting nervous, Tea." A smirk appeared on his face before he continued. "Just relax, I've taken care of everything."

I raised an eyebrow at him, his smirk still playing onto his lips. What did he mean by everything?

"So, where are you going to take me?" I asked, curiosity taking over now.

"You'll see." He was always serious but he had a playful side too, it wasn't often I saw it but I liked when I did. He liked to tease me and secretly I liked it too.

"Yami," I whined. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

He didn't react and kept on staring at the road, still refusing to look at me. He knew me too well, he knew what trick I was going to pull off next but I knew him too, he was going to fall for it.

"Yami?" I whined again, using my puppy dog eyes. A little chuckle came out of his mouth and he shook his head.

"No, Tea."

"Yami?" I said, now with a seductive voice and I battered my eyelashes. He still kept on looking to the road and a little growl escaped my lips, soon followed by an evil grin. I knew exactly what to do if that didn't work.

"Baby," I said in a semi whining, semi seductive tone while leaning closer to him. I put out my hand and traced the lines of his neck with my index finger and I went down to his collar bone, gently caressing the muscles of his chest through his black shirt.

He looked down at me and raised an eyebrow but I knew it was getting hard for him now, he wouldn't be able to let this torture continue for long.

I kept leaning closer and nibbled at his ear lobe when he suddenly hit the brakes.

"We're home Tea," he said, quickly getting out of the car to hide the blush on his face.

I smirked, satisfied with my little victory and waited until he would give in and tell me where we were going. I opened the door of the car and ran to the front door because it was still raining and a few seconds later we were both standing in the hallway. Normally my mom would come and greet us but she was gone for the weekend, she went to see my dad after she got a plane ticket.

"Now tell me," I said, placing my arms around his neck and slightly pushing him against the wall. "Where are we going?"

The reaction I got, was not the one I expected. He put his nose in the air and started sniffing. "Tea, you smell like French fries, maybe you should go and take a shower," he said nonchalantly.

I blinked a few times and growled at him, not understanding why he didn't give in.

"Fine," I spat at him and I stomped up the stair when I could hear him chuckle. "Don't you expect any sweet words from me anymore, mister!" I said when I turned around, pointing one finger into the air.

"We'll see," he simply answered, a smirk on his face.

"Foolish boy," I murmured when I got into the bathroom. After a minute or two I was finally standing under the hot water of the shower, humming a song that got stuck in my head during my shift when a knock on the door made me screech. The shampoo bottle fell down on the ground and wanting to pick it up I nearly fell on the wet floor beneath me.

"Tea?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned after my screech and the thud on the floor.

"What?" I spat at him, still wondering why he didn't give in to me.

"I have a little surprise for you in your bedroom," he said. "Baby." The nickname I had given him sounded awfully sarcastic when he said it and I took the shampoo bottle in my hands and threw it to the door.

"Get downstairs!" I shouted and he chuckled a little. He knew I wasn't really mad, he knew that I was just fooling around with him and that I was dying of curiosity.

I rushed back into the shower, quickly washing my hairs with my favorite shampoo which smelled like apricots (A/N: My shampoo does!) and washing my body in a speed tempo.

When I got out I quickly put a towel around my hair and body and ran out of the room, leaving a wet trail on the floor in the hallway. I couldn't wait to see the surprise he was talking about and when I walked into my room I could see a black strapless dress lying on my bed. At first I thought it was nothing too fancy but when I picked it up I noticed the front of the dress had been turned down so I couldn't see it and I saw it had a huge red rose at the left, bottom side of the dress. It absolutely looked fabulous and I couldn't wait to go on a date with the handsome young man who was sitting downstairs.

**Yami:**

I was sitting on the couch, waiting for her to come downstairs when I heard the sound of heels, walking down the stairs. I stood up and walked into the hallway to find myself utterly lost by her appearance. Although I had picked the dress myself and already imagined her wearing it, it was different to see her in it for real. My heart skipped a beat when she came closer and I noticed her hair was different. It was held by a hair comb which had a matching red rose on it, to accentuate the one on her dress, she looked absolutely stunning.

"Do you like it?" I asked, trying to hide the excitement in my voice.

Everything had to go according to my plan. It had been hard in the car, and when she pushed me against the wall to stay calm but somehow I managed to do so. Tonight would be a night full of surprises for her, if she liked it or not. But by seeing the look on her face, she clearly liked it at the moment.

"I love it Yami!" she shouted and she jumped down the last few steps to land in my arms.

"I hate to say it, but we have to go now," I said to her.

She nodded, clearly too excited to ask where we were going and followed me towards the front door. I could still hear the sound of the rain so I took a quick look around me, glad to find an umbrella in the corner of the room. When I reached down to grab it she suddenly took my arm.

"Wait a second, when did you change?" she asked, noticing I wore a tuxedo.

"Oh, when you were in the shower." I replied, opening the door and putting out the umbrella to open it. I remembered my mother telling me to always open it when you were outside, not inside. (A/N: Mine always does.)

"Talking of changing," she continued. "How did you know my size?"

I rolled my eyes, surprised that she hadn't figured it out before but she seemed to pick it up now.

"Mai," she said and I nodded in response.

I waited for her to get into the car and then went to my side, closing the umbrella and hurrying to get inside.

"What's up with this rain all the time, it has been raining all week now," I murmured when putting my key into the contact,

"The newspaper said it was going to storm today," Tea answered, looking out of the window towards the empty streets. Almost everyone was celebrating now and we would soon be too.

"So, where are you taking me?" she asked again, clearly not ready to give up.

"I told you, you'll see Tea." She shrugged her shoulders, suddenly not caring anymore and laid her hand upon mine, waiting until I would eventually stop at wherever we were going.

I had picked out a nice restaurant at the edge of town which served all kinds of food. It wasn't too expensive but Tea never wanted it to be like that and neither did I. I could enjoy the simple things in life and so did she, but they all seemed more enjoyable when I was with her. I remembered in the beginning of our friendship when we walked past a grocery store which had a sign 'Free watermelons today!'. She ran inside, and came back after less than a minute, holding two pieces in her hand. She gave one to me and took a bite of hers, her eyes closing by the sweetness in her mouth. I soon followed her example and we both ended up laughing about it.

"We're here," I said. She looked out of the window and clearly recognized the restaurant. I received a warm smile when she turned back around and a little peck on the lips. I put out my hand to take the umbrella which was lying on the backseat and got out of the car.

When I opened the door I put out my hand and she laid hers in mine, strangling our fingers as one when walking towards the building.

"I didn't know you could be so romantic," she said when I opened the door for her so she could step inside.

"Me neither."

She started to laugh and followed me and our waiter towards a table. I made sure that we would have a table close at the window, because she liked to look outside, in the corner of the room where we could have a little bit of privacy.

When we got our menu she turned the pages until she got at the ramen dishes, smiling widely when she saw the different kinds.

"There's so much, I really have no idea which one I should pick," she said, still looking at the menu in her hands.

"Yeah, me neither."

She didn't notice I was looking at her since she was searching for something to eat and I couldn't help but to stare at her beauty, a smile playing around my lips. Even when the waiter came to get our order I wasn't able to get my eyes off of her. Although the idea of her, being the key to my Millennium Puzzle was still in my head, I knew that she had already unlocked my heart.

**Tea:**

"Do you want to come in? I can make dessert," I said when Yami dropped me off at home.

"Sounds fine with me," he answered, getting out the umbrella because it was still raining. I liked the rain but I didn't like the storm that was coming, if I had to be honest, I was scared of them. But I would never tell Yami of course, I didn't want to look like a little, scared girl.

I searched for my keys in my purse and couldn't wait to get out of my shoes, they were hurting like hell. But when a woman wanted to be beautiful, she sometimes needed to feel some pain.

"You can let it dry here," I said to Yami, pointing to the floor. The umbrella was soaked although we had been standing in the rain less than a minute.

"Now, what do you want? I think I still have some ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Or do you want whipped cream with it?" I asked, hanging my jacket away in the closet.

"How about both?" (A/N: Do you know that TV-spot from Coke Zero, 'A taste of life as it should be' when the woman walks in and she says 'Baby, whipped cream or chocolate sauce?' and the man says 'Both', it's hilarious!)

"Both it is," I said. "But first, I'm going to get rid of these shoes."

I walked up the stairs to my bedroom, not able to wait any second longer. I sat down on my bed and a sound of relief escaped my lips when my shoes finally got off and I laid myself down onto my bed, stretching all my limbs.

"You seem happy."

I looked up and saw Yami leaning against the door, both hands in his pockets. I could feel blood rushing to my head when I looked at him, sometimes I had the feeling that every time I looked at him he was more handsome than before.

"You bet." I laid myself back onto my bed and a big sigh escaped my lips.

Yami had closed the door and was now walking towards me. With every step he took my heart beat faster and faster. When he stood at the end I sat up and looked up into his crimson orbs, not wanting to stop looking at them. He put out his hand and took out he hair comb in my hair which made it fall down again.

"Much better," he murmured, lying the comb on the side of the bed and leaning closer towards me.

My heart was racing as if I just ran a marathon. Something seemed different about him, but I couldn't tell what it was exactly.

When his lips touched mine I soon fell back onto the bed, his body leaning over mine, still not breaking the kiss. When our lips finally parted I felt breathless but I didn't need to talk and neither did he. He was placing a trail of kisses down to my neck and collar bone which made my body shiver. He suddenly stopped and looked into my eyes, his filled with desire.

"Tea?" he whispered, unsure to continue or not.

"You love me right?" The question seemed so stupid, I knew he loved me, I didn't need to ask him.

A little smile appeared on his face and he gave me a kiss on my forehead. "Of course I do Tea, you know that."

I smiled back and took his head into my hands. "I do."

**Yami:**

Her head was resting on my bare chest and my hand was going through her hair, sometimes gently brushing her cheek. She seemed so peaceful when she was asleep, almost like an angel. The sound of thunder suddenly startled me and the young woman next to me wrinkled her nose, hearing the sound in her sleep.

She opened her eyes and smiled at me and I smiled back, a warm smile. She was probably the only one that would ever see it, except for my grandfather and brother of course.

Her smile soon faded when another rumbling sound came from outside, the lightning lightening up the whole room. I could feel her muscles tense a little and she cuddled herself closer next to me, her head still resting on my chest. Her hand started to look for mine and she strangled our fingers while one of her legs rapped itself around mine.

"Stay with me," she whispered.

"I wasn't planning on leaving." I murmured into her hair, placing a soft kiss on it.

It was quit for a few moments after that and I almost thought she was asleep again until she spoke for the last time that night.

"Yami, about dessert, I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow," she teased me, half asleep but suddenly remembering what we were going to do in the first place.

"I guess so," I said and she smiled contently, lying in my arms.


	16. Blue eyes white dragon

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.******

**(A/N: Woah, this is the longest story I've ever written!)**

**Chapter sixteen: Blue eyes white dragon**

**Tea:**

"Good day Mr. Pegasus, I hope I'm not disturbing you. Mr. Kaiba isn't able to make it to the meeting but he would like reschedule it to next week, on Friday at eight o'clock, if that fits for you."

It was silent for a few seconds because he was probably looking at his agenda but he eventually confirmed.

"It does? Thank you Mr. Pegasus, have a nice day."

I laid down the phone to touch another button on the machine. "Mr. Kaiba, your meeting with Mr. Pegasus is rescheduled."

A growl was heard from the other side but I knew that it was an approving one, he always gave me that when I did good, although he would never really admit it.

Ever since I decided to take a new job I had been looking for one and strangely enough I was now Seto's secretary. It was strange to call him 'Mr. Kaiba' and I had to go to work every day after school, unless in the weekends of course, but I didn't mind. I liked doing this job and it gave Yami some time to hang out with his friends. I loved him, of course, but I had the feeling I was stealing him away from his friends and I didn't want to do so.

A sound startled me when the elevator stopped at our floor and my eyes shut open. Had I forgotten someone? I was sure Kaiba didn't have a meeting…

The doors opened and a young, dark haired boy stepped out. "Hey Tea," he said with a happy smile onto his face.

Mokuba Kaiba was different than his older brother, a lot. He loved his brother deeply and showed it often, in their own strange way of course since Kaiba acted like a cold hearted person towards the rest of the world. But somehow the little boy in front of me could change him, and I found a bit of happiness in that. No one deserved to be alone, not even Kaiba.

"Is my brother in a meeting?" he asked, leaning his elbows on my desk and supporting his head with his hands.

"No, he's in his office." I pushed the button again and Mokuba immediately spoke up.

"Hey bro, mind if I come in?" he asked, using his puppy dog eyes on the phone. I chuckled a little and he looked up at me, shrugging his shoulders.

"No." The answer that came through the speakers was cold, as always but to Mokuba it seemed more friendly in some sort of way.

"Well, see you around Tea!" He waved with the back of his hand before disappearing into the black doors of Kaiba's office.

This job sure was different than the one I had before, although my boss was probably worse. I was sitting in a white leather chair at a huge, white colored, iron desk with a grey laptop on top of it. The phone that stood on my right was also grey and seemed very high-tech. In front of me there were two white, leather couches and a little table with some books on it. A painting of the Blue Eyes White Dragon hung above it, it was Kaiba's trade mark since he had three of them. The fourth one had been stolen from him a few years ago, but it wasn't used in a duel ever since so no one knew where it was. On my right there was a little bar, so I could always bring a drink to the people who were waiting for Kaiba, or of course Kaiba himself. The walls and ceiling had been painted in a metallic grey but the floor had white tiles, which caused the cleaning woman to clean it every day after everyone had left. For a business as Kaiba Corp. it was important to leave a big impression when people first came in.

The door on my left opened and Mokuba walked out, heading towards the bar.

"You know, you can always call me for that," I said, pointing towards the drink in his hand.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but I might get lazy if I don't do some things myself," he answered, nipping from his coke.

"Besides, I have to go now, I need to get some homework done." He rolled his eyes and pointed with his finger towards Kaiba's office and I smiled at him before the doors of the elevator closed. Seto was a very intelligent man and he definitely wanted his little brother to become one too.

I looked at the pile of assignments I still had to do and stretched my arms, ready to begin. I took the first file and opened it, quickly looking through and writing down some notes. Kaiba didn't have the time to look through all of them so I was the one who got the less important once and needed to write down a quick note about them, telling who they were, what they did, for how much they did it and where they did, to see if it was a good business partner for Kaiba Corp or not. He would always quickly look at the notes, taking maybe two out of thirty and the rest would end up in the trash can.

After about an hour I was ready with half of it and I decided to get a drink, all this work was making me thirsty. I opened a bottle of water and took out a glass and stayed at the bar when I drank it, my eyes looking at the room in front of me but somehow my eyes always searched for the beautiful painting of the mighty white dragon.

I put down my glass and walked towards it, stopping a few inches before my nose would be pressed against the wall. I looked up at the dragon and something seemed strangely familiar about its eyes. I had never noticed it before until now but it was probably my imagination.

"Back to work," I murmured, forcing myself to look away from the white dragon's blue eyes and walking back to my desk, ready to work some more.

A yawn escaped my lips when I sat down and I shook my head, taking the twentieth file of the pile.

_I walked down one of the many hallways in the palace, ready to go to one of my dance classes. There was a ceremony ever two months to honor someone from the royal family or a god so we always needed to practice and stay in shape.___

_I turned around when I heard someone screaming my name, to see Mana walking towards me, followed by a young woman I had never seen before. Her eyes were a bright blue, even lighter than mine, her skin was pale and her hairs were white as snow. Although she didn't seem like a normal Egyptian, she was one of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, she was different. Anyone would feel ugly next to her, if they had a low self esteem.___

_"Teana," Mana said. "This is Kisara." The young woman seemed a bit shy and first and just nodded towards me, not really looking.___

_"Hello," I said, trying to be nice to her. "Is she a new one?" I asked Mana. I couldn't say the word, servant, maybe it would scare the girl like it had first scared me when I first came here.___

_"Yes, she'll be practicing with you today." Mana turned around and went back to wherever she came from, leaving the girl with me.___

_"It's probably scaring you," I said to her. She nodded, still avoiding my gaze and followed me through the hallways.___

_"How did you end up here?" I asked. Somehow I wanted to know more about this girl, she seemed trustworthy and a nice person too.___

_"My parents abandoned me when I was a little kid, they thought I was a child of the devil," she murmured, clearly hurt.___

_"Why would they do such a thing?" I asked, but when I looked down at her I knew why. "Because of your appearance?"___

_She nodded. "At first it were my eyes that scared them and later on my hair and skin too, people were starting to stay away from us, all because of me. When my father tried to sell anything on the market he wasn't able too because people thought that they would get caught by the devil or something."___

_I couldn't help but to lie my hand onto her shoulder and she finally looked up at me. "Your eyes," she whispered. "Is that what it looks like from the outside?"___

_I raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you never take a look at yourself before?"___

_She shook her head. "My father told me I couldn't take a look when we came across water, it would awaken the devil inside of me."___

_"Nonsense," I answered. "Follow me."___

_She nodded and we went to the kitchen and after a few minutes I found what I was looking for, a bowl of water, and I put it into her hands.___

_"What's this?" she asked but when she looked into it she could see her own reflection and she gasped. "I am strange," she murmured. "I don't look like any of you at all, I look different."___

_"Different is good, you'll see," I said. I didn't know why but I had a feeling she would be okay. Loads of people in the palace didn't believe in such nonsense as 'the devil inside of people' because they were used to magic and the monsters of the duel game, they knew which legends were real and which weren't.___

_She looked up at me and smiled, putting the water back down.___

_"Now we need to hurry, we don't want to be late, do we?" I already knew that we were probably going to be late but I didn't mind that much. They wouldn't be mad at me if they saw I brought someone new with me.___

_"Thanks Teana," she whispered and I smiled back at her.___

_"No problem, at least now you know there isn't a devil inside of you," I said and she nodded, happily. The thought of being evil had clearly given her a bad image about herself and I hoped it would disappear after today, I was already starting to like this girl, she was like a long lost friend.___

_We walked back into the hallway when I heard footsteps approaching us. High Priest Seto and Priestess Isis were walking down the hallway, talking about something that had happened in the city.___

_"Bow," I whispered to the girl next to me and she listened.___

_"Who is this?" the high priest asked, suddenly noticing our presence.___

_I stood up and told Kisara to do the same. "Blue eyes," she whispered when she looked to the priest. I had never noticed it before but she was right, he had blue eyes too. A part of me was scared, no one ever spoke to the Priest so directly but she was new, he couldn't blame her, could he?___

_"What did you say?" he asked, shaking his head in confusion and I was glad he wasn't mad at her.___

_Isis suddenly grabbed his arm and got a blank expression into her eyes. "Seto," she murmured and she let go off him after a few seconds.___

_Kisara turned to me and gave me a questioning look and I nodded, trying to tell her I would explain her later. I had been told that the strange golden items some of the members in the palace wore had a special power, such as the magic Mahad was in control of.___

_"Isis?" he asked, clearly knowing what had happened but not knowing what exactly.___

_"It's nothing, Seto, really. I was just thinking of something."___

_He frowned a little and gave her a strange look, he knew that she was lying, he was a smart man. One of the smartest of the whole court, so I was told.___

_"Forgive me," I said bowing again. "We need to go and rehearse the ceremonial dance."___

_Seto turned his head back to us and looked down at Kisara. "Tell me her name first."___

_"My name is Kisara," she said while bowing again.___

_"You can go now," Isis said and we both nodded leaving them both behind. There had been something that Isis had seen, I knew that she had the power to look into the future and I had a feeling it had something to do with High Priest Seto and the snow-like haired woman next to me.___

_"Tea!" I turned my head and noticed no one was calling me.___

_"Kisara?" I asked, trying to figure out if she had heard it too but I noticed she was gone when I felt the wool of my own sweater against my cheek._

"Tea!" I looked up when Kaiba's fist hit my desk, blinking a few times, and I noticed he had a half shocked expression in his eyes. "What did you just call me?" he asked, the cold look in his sapphire eyes suddenly disappearing.

"O my, I must've fallen asleep!" I looked down to the pile next to me and saw that luckily I had already done most of them before drifting off. "I'm sorry Kaiba, I'll continue these." I put out my arm to grab another file but he grabbed a hold of my arm.

"I asked what did you call me?" His voice sounded demanding as always and I looked back into his eyes, seeing the shock once more.

"I didn't call you anything," I answered, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Before you woke up, Tea, what did you call me? Who were you dreaming about?" He still had that demanding tone and I couldn't help but to answer him.

I frowned a little remembering Seto and Ishizu in some weird clothes when I suddenly looked past the brown haired man in front of me and saw the painting of the Blue eyes white dragon.

"Kisara," I murmured and the shock in his eyes widened, as if he was remembering something.

"How do you know that name?" he hissed, suddenly mad.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It was just a dream, Kaiba, why?"

"Because," he turned around and showed me his back, trying to hide the look in his eyes. "That's the nickname I gave my fourth Blue eyes.

**Yami:**

"I wonder why Tea hasn't called me yet," I murmured when I got into my car. It was already 8 o'clock, she was home for almost an hour now, but still she hadn't called."Maybe I should stop by."

I closed the door and waited for the sound of my engine running before I drove off the parking lot. Joey had a soccer match tonight and they won. After a few drinks I decided to go home but now I was worrying about Tea. Ever since she worked at Kaiba's I didn't see her often during the week and a part of me didn't like it one bit. There was something about Kaiba when he was close to her that made my body shiver of madness.

It had stopped raining, luckily, and it was getting warmer outside because it was already April. Tea always told me about how much she loved spring, she liked the scent of new flowers and the colors of green at the trees.

A sigh escaped my lips when I put my car in front of the garage of Tea's house. A feint glow of light was coming from underneath the living room's curtains and I rang the bell. After half a minute Tea's mother opened the door.

"Hello Yami, and…" she got a confused look in her eyes and peeped her head out of the front door, looking at her surroundings.

"Where is Tea?" she asked. My heart suddenly stopped.

"What do you mean? Isn't she home yet?" I could hardly hide the worry in my voice but she didn't seem to notice, being worried herself.

The woman in front of me shook her head. "I thought she was with you since she didn't come home for dinner, it never crossed my mind that she could've been somewhere else."

I looked down at my Millennium Puzzle, it hadn't warned me, had it? No, she was safe, that was for sure.

"I'll go and look for her," I answered. She nodded and when I was about to turn around I could hear the brakes of a car and a door opening a few seconds later.

"Thanks," she said to the cab driver while handing him some money.

"Tea?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Her worried face lit up the moment she saw me and the deep frown on her forehead disappeared like snow for the sun.

"Yami!" she shouted and she ran over to me to give me a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't call me so I decided to visit you but your mother told me you weren't home," I answered.

"Yeah, I needed to get some work done at Kaiba Corp, I'm really sorry that I didn't call to warn you two," she said, now walking over to her mother to give her a hug.

Although she was acting happy and normal, there was something bothering her, I could feel it. I had seen the worried expression on her face and the frown on her forehead, there was definitely something wrong.

We walked inside the house and Tea walked towards her room, telling me to follow. Once she came in she started to empty her bag on her desk and a big sigh escaped her lips.

"Yami?" she asked, her head in her hands and her eyes looking outside.

"Yes?" I asked, a bit concerned.

"Did you ever had dreams that seemed so real you weren't sure if they were just dreams?" she asked. "I probably sound stupid," she laughed two seconds later and shook her head.

"I have, often." I answered and she turned to look at me, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Guess it's just my imagination," she murmured, a new frown appearing.

"Tell me your dream, Tea." I pulled her off of the chair and pulled her towards the bed. Once I sat down she cuddled herself onto my lap, sniffing my jacket. Somehow she always did that, as if she wanted to keep my scent in her head for as long as possible.

"It was nothing really. I was just walking down a hallway with a girl and then I saw Ishizu and Seto and they were acting all strange when Ishizu's took his arm. A few seconds later Kaiba was standing in front of me, screaming my name and trying to wake me up at Kaiba Corp. But it were his eyes that seemed so strange," she murmured to my chest.

"His eyes?" I asked.

"They seemed, shocked," she answered and I pulled her back a little, trying to look at her while raising an eyebrow.

"Seto Kaiba seemed shocked, why?" I asked surprised.

"Because, I had been talking in my sleep, I told him the girl's name, Kisara. Then he told me that he named his fourth Blue eyes white dragon like that and he just left, not wanting to look at me anymore."

"Kisara," I murmured, blinking a few times, remembering the girl. She had a pale white skin and blue eyes, brighter than Tea's and her hairs were white as snow, she reminded me of the Blue Eyes in some sort of way.

"Yami?" she asked, concern filling her voice, she had seen the expression on my face when I thought of the name and she knew I was thinking about something.

"Tea, what if I told you that wasn't just a dream you had?" I asked.


	17. Reaching out to you

**Elle-L: I've discovered Kisara's existence, today, when I was supposed to be asleep. I wanted to do something else with this chapter but I think I'm just going to write it down in my AtemxTeana story or maybe in one of the following chapters, I'm not quite sure yet.**

**Sara Darkotter: Do you really think so? :p**

**fantasia-49: Well thank you for the compliment :D**

**Peaches16x3: I'm glad you posted a review because now I know you like my story! *Doing a little dance* I've never been to Germany before, although it's not so far away from home but I would like to visit it sometime, now I'm going to stop babbling and write the next chapter…Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter seventeen: Reaching out to you**

**Tea:**

I looked up into his crimson orbs and wondered what he was talking about. What did he mean by that? Of course it were just dreams, what else could they be? I could feel my own eyes widen in shock when I remembered my dream about Ishizu and Mr. Ishtar, telling us about Yami's soul, Atem's soul, that it was locked into his Millennium Puzzle.

"Was that real?" I whispered, not knowing if I was going insane or not.

"Not really, but it did happen in some sort of way," he answered, knowing what I was thinking about.

"But what does it mean? Why am I dreaming of you? You're the one with the Millennium Puzzle, not me." I knew that he had already thought about these questions since he clearly knew what had happened for a while know and I remembered the talk he had with Mr. Ishtar on Joey's birthday and his strange behavior the couple of days after it.

He took my chin into one of his hands and forced me to look at him. Although he was serious now, I couldn't help but to get lost in them, they intrigued me.

"I already figured that out, well not completely." His voice seemed calm, as if he already set his mind onto this, he was going to tell me someday and he had prepared himself for it, so I would completely understand.

"Then what do you know?" I asked, curiosity not only filling my mind but also my voice.

"You're the key, Tea. Somehow I chose you to be the one to unlock my soul, my memories and my old powers." He frowned a little, as if he was thinking again.

"Why me?" Of course I would ask him this, there was no explanation to why he ever would pick me as the key to his most precious possession, his soul.

"That's a question I don't have an answer too." His eyes looked down to his Puzzle for a moment but when I spoke again they looked back at me.

"How do you know I'm the key?"

"I figured it out when Mr. Ishtar used his Millennium Rod on you. My pendant started to glow, it's a warning, whenever you're in danger it does that, according to Mr. Ishtar at least." I could see the little twitch in his eyes, he didn't seem too happy about someone using a Millennium Item on me and neither was I.

"Wait a second? Mr. Ishtar used his powers on me? And your Puzzle warns you, why?" All these questions were blocking my mind, I couldn't think of anything else, only of the questions who I knew he had already asked himself before.

"He did that so you wouldn't ask about the powers of his item, it could reveal something to me but it was already too late after that, I remembered the talk we had with Ishizu and him and I confronted him with it. He told me my puzzle warns me because I need to protect you."

"From what?" My heart had skipped a beat, knowing that he loved me that much that even his Pendant wanted to protect me but a part of me was scared too. Was there someone that was going to hurt me?

"From being hurt I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and I knew that was the only answer he had and it was probably I right one.

I took the pendant in my hands and took a close look at it. Even if it needed a key, there was no lock to put it in. But if a human was a key, then it couldn't be unlocked like a normal door, could it? "How can I be the key, how can I open it?"

"I honestly don't know Tea, Mr. Ishtar said we had to find out ourselves. I wish I could remember why I wanted you to be the key, maybe that would give us some answers." He was clearly a bit upset about this, he didn't like it when he wasn't informed about things involving him.

"Maybe, but for now let us go to bed," I murmured to his chest. "Mom doesn't mind if you stay over." It was hard for me to change the subject but I was tired after all the files Kaiba gave me, I needed some rest.

"I know, I wonder why." He let his hand brush against my back and a shiver went through my whole body, it was strange how one touch could have so much affect on me.

"It's like I told you the first day, Yami. She has probably fallen in love with you like with your brother," I teased him.

He laughed and gave me a quick kiss before walking to the bathroom to change.

**Yami:**

_"Mana, it's Atem." Teana cried while holding me into her arms. _

_I felt like I was having a hangover but I knew the consequences of my actions a few minutes earlier would be far more worse than a simple hangover.__"_

_Atem," Mahad whispered, clearly in shock. They had just walked into the room, looking at their surroundings._

_"Is Seto ok?" Mana asked, trying not to look at me. I knew that if she did, she would start to cry, she knew I was dying, that her best friend was going to be gone in a few minutes._

_Teana turned and looked over to Seto, holding a lifeless body in his arms and her tears came faster this time.__"You can't be dead Kisara, you just can't" I heard him whisper and I wondered if Teana would react the same way when I was gone._

_"Teana," I managed to say. She looked down at me, tears in her eyes and I put out my hand to caress her cheek. "Listen very carefully." A cough interrupted my words and I could hear Mana beginning to sob too. "You are the key, the key to my Millennium Pendant, to my powers and my soul. You must get away from here, do you understand me? People will come and look for you but Mahad and I will make sure no one will ever find you again."_

_"Master." Mahad sat down on his knees and was looking down at me. "If we use our magic to protect her you will certainly die."_

_"I'll die anyway, you know the power of that attack. You have to tell Isis to protect the Millennium Pendant. As soon as I die it will shatter itself and when I come back, I will solve it."_

_"But master, how can you come back?" he asked, giving me a questioning and hopeful look._

_"I won't come back as a Pharaoh, but as a normal boy. Isis has seen it, she knows that I will get it back someday and I will find a way to avenge myself. He's going to come back too one day, but I will be prepared."_

_Before Mahad could speak again I turned my head slightly to my cousin.__"Seto," I coughed, not sure if he was going to hear me. I tried to speak up but he was still shaking, holding Kisara's body in his arms. "You are Pharaoh now."__He turned around to look at me and he had a cold expression in his sapphire eyes, as if he hadn't a heart at all. _

_"I can't," he protested, hugging the snow-like haired girl closer to his chest._

_"You will have too." _

_Before he could protest again Teana said my name which cause me to turn my head again.__"Atem, you can't die," she whispered so low I almost wasn't able to hear her._

_"Teana, I will, I haven't got much time left. I chose you to be the key of my Pendant because you are the only one that truly understands me, because you have already unlocked my heart. When time comes, you will find a way to open it."_

_"But how? I don't have any powers."_

_"You won't need your powers, you will open it when the time is ready. Now you have to promise me that you'll go as far away as possible, ok?"_

_She looked down at me and nodded. It was clear to me that she didn't want to talk about it, she would sit here with me until I died, she would hold me in her arms forever if she could._

_"Teana, don't cry. We'll be together again someday, I promise. I love you." I tried to put as much love and effort in my last words as I could but soon a blackness filled my head._

_"I love you too, Atem," she cried.__Her touch, her warmth, her breath, the sound of her sobbing all disappeared a few seconds later, and it would take centuries until I could look into her beautiful blue eyes again._

**Tea:**

"Yami!" I shouted, trying to wake him up. It was in the middle of the night and I knew that he was having a bad dream since hee was frowning a little and all sweaty, turning in his sleep and almost squeezing me between his body and the bed.

"Yami Muto!" I shouted, this time a little harder, now scared that I was waking up my mother instead of him. I wondered how it could be that he could sleep this deep, it wasn't as if he had drunk or taken any medicines.

"I've had it with you," I murmured. I pushed as hard as I could to get him off of me but he turned around again, taking me tight into his arms, still frowning. At first his touch was normal again, he would always hold me like this when we were sleeping but he started to tighten his grip on me a few minutes later, as if he was scared that I was going to run away.

"Come on, I can't breathe." I was using my hands to push his arms away but he didn't lose his grip.

"Snap out of it, now!" He didn't react at all and suddenly I felt like I was being in the buss again, that I wasn't able to wake him up. I was horrified right now, he was having a bad dream, there was no question to that and I needed to wake him up before he strangled me or squeezed me with his body.

"His Millennium Puzzle," I murmured and I looked to my right. It lay there, on my nightstand and it's eye was turned to me, as if it was telling me to pick it up

"Maybe I can wake him up too…" I stretched my arm and reached out to get the pendant but Yami pulled me closer to him. After a few minutes I was finally able to grab it and tried to put it around my neck. Once it was on my, mind was racing again.

"Now, what did Mr. Ishtar do? He closed his eyes, yeah, that's it."

I didn't know for sure if his Millennium Puzzle had the same powers, and if they were able to wake him up but I closed my eyes. Nothing happened, since I could still feel his grip on me and I opened my eyes, waking up in the same position but in another bed.

"Yami?" I whispered. He frowned a little and I said his name again, loud and clear this time. "Yami."

His eyes shot open and he looked around him, unsure of where he was. He finally let me go out of his tight grip and rubbed his eyes.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked.

"If you are, then we're having the same dream," I answered.

"It seems like we're in Atem's bedroom," he murmured. He looked down to me and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you wearing my Millennium Puzzle?"

I looked down and saw that I was still wearing it. "I tried to wake you up, but when that didn't work I thought of the thing Mr. Ishtar did in the bus. Guess it doesn't work that way…"

Suddenly someone opened the door and I took the blanket, trying to hide myself. I wasn't completely naked of course, but I was just wearing a top and shorts, I didn't want anyone unknown seeing me in someone else his bed, wearing that with a half naked boy next to me, they would freak out.

"O my," I gasped when a young man stepped through the doorway. Everything about him was just right, his with clothes, his golden jewelry, the crown on his head, only his purple cape was missing. The same Millennium Item that I wore was hanging down his chest and he was staring at me, clearly not knowing what to do or say.

Yami was sitting in front of me, just staring at the person in front of us. They looked exactly the same, although the man in the doorway had a tanned skin and he didn't.

"This is a dream," I murmured and I cuddled myself into the blanket against Yami's back. "Just a dream, I can wake up any minute now…"

"This isn't a dream," the young man said and I looked up when I heard his voice, they sounded exactly the same too, he sounded like in my dreams.

"Where are we?" Yami demanded. I had never thought of it before but I remembered Atem using the same tone when he wanted to know something or was ordering people.

"In our room, in one of our soul rooms to be exact," the Prince answered. He still didn't take his eyes off of me and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, his gaze was so familiar. Not only because it was the same as Yami's, but also because he had looked at me hundredths of times before, in my dreams.

"Soul room?" I asked but he didn't react to my question, he kept staring to me.

"Your hair is shorter," he said with an amused tone in his voice. "I like it."

"It has never been longer." I closed my mouth when I could feel a little blush when my mind registered the sentence 'I like it.' I shouldn't be feeling this? Should I? But then again, he and Yami were the same.

"Once it was, Tea, once it was. I'm surprised to see you though, I didn't expect you so soon."

I raised an eyebrow but Yami was too fast for me.

"You expected us?" he asked with a disbelieving tone.

"Yes, but in Isis's vision it took you longer, you seemed older than you are now. Of course her visions can be changed…"

"By another Millennium Item," Yami continued. "Isis is the same woman as Ishizu, right?"

"Exactly. But I do wonder what you're doing in my room though, your soul room is at the other side. I had expected Tea to pick that one." The door was still open and he pointed towards a darker door and it seemed more modern too, so did the wall around it.

"She was the key to your soul, not mine," Yami said, getting up and helping me out of the bed. When I stood up he was still holding my hand, clearly not wanting to let go. Atem looked at us and I could see a hint of envy in his eyes and I knew why, he had never been able to hold my hand so openly.

"She is the key to both our rooms, Yami. It must've been her subconscious that picked this one." A smile played around his lips and I recognized that look in his eyes, he had figured something out.

"My subconscious?" I asked. "I didn't even know I was going to end up anywhere!" My voice sounded surprised and excited at the same time.

"Tea, take a look around. Why do you think your subconscious picked this one?" He was still smiling a little and I let my eyes look through the room.

At first I hadn't really paid attention to my surroundings but I noticed that it was different than in most of my dreams. There were carpets on the floor and some flowers from which I didn't know their name. A little stone tablet stood near the doorway and I could recognize Mahad in it, it represented the Dark Magician. A shiver ran down my spine when a cold breeze came out of the hallway, and I turned around to take the blanket from the bed.

A gasp escaped my lips when I could see a large painting above it. A young woman that looked exactly like me was sitting on a boulder, holding a purple blanket, that seemed like Atem's cape, in her arms with something in it, but I wasn't able to see what. The sun was setting behind them and there was a pain in her eyes, as if she had lost something close to her. At the sound of my gasp Yami had turned around and he whispered my name.

"Not exactly," Atem answered. "That's Teana." I could hear that he was walking towards us to take a closer look himself.

I let my hand slip out of Yami's and stepped onto the bed to kneel down in front of it, looking at the purple cloth.

"What is she holding in her arms?" I asked.

"Our child."

Both me and Yami turned around in shock and I saw that Atem had the same sad expression on his face as the painting had. "I knew that she was pregnant, that's why she's holding a baby but because I've never seen it, the painting doesn't show me it's face."

"We have a child?" I blurted out.

"Well, most likely had. It looks like you guys aren't really from my time anymore." He pointed towards the clothes I was wearing and Yami's boxers. No, they certainly didn't wear that in the ancient Egypt.

"No, we're from three thousand years in the future," Yami muttered, still a bit confused of the fact he once had a kid he didn't know.

"Three thousand years?" Atem shouted with surprise in his voice. "I didn't realize it would be that long, Isis said it would be some centuries until I would solve the puzzle again, but not three millennia!"

I turned my head back to the picture and laid my hand upon the purple cloth, gently caressing it. "She lead me here, didn't she?" I asked, referring to Teana and still not taking my eyes off the painting.

"I think she did, yes." Atem answered, a bit sad and happy at the same time. The thought of Teana, still trying to reach him through me must've been very emotional for him.

"It was a girl," I murmured. "Her name was Thema, I named her after what she should've been, a queen. She had your crimson eyes and my brown hairs but she got your blond strokes, in it. She was beautiful."

I closed my eyes for a second and shook my head, not realizing why I had said it and when I opened them again the picture seemed to change. I could see Teana, a little bit older sitting on the boulder while holding a ten-year old girl's hand, their bodies facing the sunset. She looked down at the little girl with a smile and Thema had turned her head and half of her body to look straightly towards me. (A/N: me = Tea, sitting on the bed). I turned around and saw Atem with a smile on his face, one of the few real smiles I knew Yami had.

"Maybe that's why you're in my room," he said. "So you could show me this." I could hear the love in his voice, the love for this woman that was deep inside of me and I felt like I was about to cry.

"Atem, tell me. Why do we need Tea to unlock our soul?" Yami suddenly asked. I knew that he saw that I was about to cry and he wanted to change my thoughts so I wouldn't, it hurt him when I cried.

"Because you will need our powers, to fight against our enemy once more," the young Pharaoh said, still looking at the painting of his daughter and mate.

**(A/N: Some of you probably think. "What the hell? A picture that changes?" Well, I remember that Shadi was always able to change things in a soul room, so I thought, let's tell my readers something about my AtemxTeana story I'm going to write and make Atem happy because he's all alone for almost three millennia, poor prince ;( Maybe I should give him a hug too. *Closes eyes, drifts of in a dream and jumps into Atem's arms before waking up again* Hehe ;D)**


	18. Emerging souls

**(A/N: I wanted to upload this chapter Friday night but guess what? My laptop crashed, so my whole new chapter was deleted -' Since it was 4 am I didn't want to rewrite it, but I'm going to start with it now. Forgive me if it isn't very well written, I've only slept five hours last night since there was a festival and I'm going back tonight after a soccer match, so..)******

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter eighteen: Emerging souls**

**Tea:**

"Now, if you two would be so kind to follow me." Atem turned around and pointed with his hand towards the door, Yami's door.

"Will we be able to walk in?" I asked, a bit unsure. I was doubting myself a little bit, what if I didn't have the power they expected me to have? What if I was only able to open Atem's door and not Yami's?

"Of course you will, I wonder what it looks like though, I've never seen it before." Atem turned around and looked at the door in wonder.

"What do you mean? Can't you open the door?" Yami asked, a bit confused.

"No, not for now at least but I will soon enough. Right now you and Tea are the only ones who can, it is your room you know." The young pharaoh turned around and walked towards the door, curious to what lay inside. But it couldn't be much different than his own room, since they were the same soul.

We followed the prince and I felt strange into his presence, as if a part of me only felt complete now, watching him, knowing he was real in some sort of way. A part of me was shocked by these feelings, I loved Yami, not Atem. I shook my head and both young men noticed it.

"What is it Tea?" Yami asked. I could hear that he was hiding the concern in his voice, like always when we were around people.

"You're not going to like it…" My mind was in overdrive, how was I going to tell him the pharaoh made me feel weak in the knees, like he did? But he couldn't be mad, could he? No, he couldn't. They were one and the same, I had to keep that in mind.

He raised an eyebrow and Atem turned around too, curious to what I was going to say.

"Tell me, Tea." I had to look up to make sure Yami was speaking but to my surprise, Atem had.

"It's you, being around you, it makes me feel… Different." A little blush appeared on my face when the pharaoh walked towards me and laid his hand upon my shoulder. It was a gentle touch, to comfort me but his eyes told me so much more, like Yami's often did.

"Tea, you don't have to be ashamed of it, it is a part of who you are, deep inside. Love isn't only about appearances, it is about knowing the soul that is behind the mask." He smiled a little at me and I nodded. "Now, let's continue, shall we."

I looked over at the door and noticed we were only a few steps from it. Yami on the other hand already stood in front of the door and he waited to lie his hand upon the door latch before I stood next to him.

The door of the room soon opened, reveling its contents towards us. I was the first one to walk in, drawn by the room itself. It didn't have any windows, and I didn't expect those. I knew that Yami liked the dark, the silence and no sound would ever come into this room. His walls were a metallic grey and unlike the other room there wasn't a painting but a large picture, of me, him, Yugi and Mr. Solomon.

I smiled a little, I knew that his family were the people he cared about the most and seeing the picture with me in it made my heart skip a beat, I was important to him too. I turned and looked at the right side of the room. I could see dueling cards, spread out all over the grey table. The one that caught my eye at first was The Dark Magician. Kuriboh, The Celtic Guardian, Summon Skull and Gaia The Fierce Knight were lying on it too. It were the cards that Yami used the most or laid the closest to his heart. A deck of cards lay behind it but his favorite ones were for everyone to see. I walked over to the table to take a closer look and Atem followed.

"Mahad," I murmured when I took the Dark magician into my hands.

"Yes," Atem said. "And of course the Dark magician girl is Mana."

"What happened to them?" Yami asked, looking at the card in my hands.

"I don't know, really. I remember when I died that I gave my last powers to Mahad so he could protect Teana. I suppose Seto became the new pharaoh and that they both served him. I wonder if he ever exclaimed his love towards her," the pharaoh said.

"He died, a few years later," I murmured. Again it felt like I was a puppet and someone was speaking through me. I knew that it had to be Teana, that she knew what had happened. "That's why the Dark magician girl gets a bonus for every Dark magician that's in the graveyard. Mana's true magic powers appeared when Mahad died, there was a rage deep inside of her because she lost him. At least, that's what people told."

"So he told her?" Atem asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess so."

A little smile appeared on his face, knowing that his friend had finally found the courage to tell her, although it probably didn't last for long since he died.

I walked over to the other end of the room, Yami now following me. I could see a golden case with the same eye on it as his Millennium Puzzle and I opened it, founding little golden pieces.

"That's my Millennium Puzzle, when I just got it," he said, looking down into the little box in my hands. "I like puzzles."

All kind of thoughts went through my mind when I looked through the room and suddenly I remembered something.

I turned around to face Atem. "I have a question."

Yami was occupied, still looking at his room, but I knew he was listening to every word I said.  
"Yes?" Atem asked. He still had that look in his eyes, the same look Yami always gave me. Other people would think he looked as he always did but I could see behind his mask, I knew his crimson eyes were telling me he loved me or at least the other part of my soul.

"I had a dream, about Kisara. I'm working for Seto now and he woke me up, since I fell asleep at my desk. He told me I had been talking in my sleep and apparently I said Kisara's name. What does it mean if he called one of his Blue Eyes White Dragon's like that?" I didn't know why that question had crossed my mind but I knew Atem was the only one who could give me an answer.

"It is probably the one that came from the original stone tablet, the one that holds Kisara's soul. Something inside of him must have remembered that, like you could remember things in your dreams," the pharaoh said.

"So, she really is the Blue Eyes White Dragon?" I asked.

Yami turned around to look at me, more interested in the conversation now. "Yes, apparently Seto found his way back to her too, in some sort of way."

"Did he love her?" The question just blurted out of my mouth but Atem answered it anyway.

"Yes, but he couldn't be with her either, like I couldn't be with you. But he'll keep her soul save, I'm sure of that."

"That card was actually stolen a few years ago," I said a little bit sad, knowing that my old friend's soul was now in someone else his hands. Seto seemed like a cold hearted person but I knew that he would take care of her, I just knew. Maybe this was why he was so cold, not only because he had lost his parents, but because he had lost his love too, long ago.

"Stolen? By who?" Atem's eyes widened in shock when he asked those two questions.

"No one knows, it has never been used into a duel." Yami answered. He had heard of the stolen card as well and since he was The duel king he had encountered many other duelists and even he had never seen it before, unless Seto used it.

"Yami, you must go to Ishizu, you must find out who has the card," Atem said.

"Why?" the young man next to me asked.

"Because, the one that owns the card owns Kisara's soul. It has a power deep locked within, like our powers. If it is stolen by someone with a Millennium Item and her power is unlocked, I don't know what is going to happen. Of course, it can be coincidence but I suggest that you both go to Ishizu, to make sure." I could see the concern into both men's eyes and I wanted to make it go away.

"How do we get back?" Yami asked, now determined to find out who had the card.

"That's simple, by waking up," Atem answered, the same serious look on his face like Yami always had.

"Will we remember you?" I asked, sadness filling my voice. I didn't know if I could handle losing Atem, a part of me loved him and I knew it.

"You will remember more than me. Now that you've unlocked our souls they will soon merge into one. My thoughts will be Yami's and the other way around. He will get my powers and he will know how to use them," Atem said, kindly smiling at me.

"But what will happen to our rooms?" Yami asked.

"They will merge into one too, but it will reflect things of both our lives." Atem seemed so calm and he already knew everything, he had probably figured this out even before Yami and I were even born.

"Will I remember too?" I asked Atem, to be certain.

"Of course you will Tea, you will find out something new yourself." He smiled a little, as if he was happy in some sort of way. Whatever would happen with me, it would be for the good.

"I will?" I looked deep into his crimson eyes and saw sincerity in them, I couldn't doubt his word.

"Yes, but for now, let's say goodbye." He bowed deep and kissed my hand before turning to Yami. "I guess I won't be seeing you anymore."

"Guess not," he smiled, knowing what Atem meant.

**Yami:**

I woke up, not sure if it really had been a dream or not but when I blinked a few times and saw Tea curled up in the blanket, her head onto my chest and still wearing my Millennium Puzzle I could feel a power within me, the pharaoh's power, my power.

My surroundings became very clear to me, I could feel that Tea was still asleep, I could look into her dreams if I wanted too. Her mother was already awake and was downstairs, making breakfast and when I concentrated a little, I knew that Joey was brushing his teeth.

"Strange," I muttered. "But it feels right…"

I looked down two seconds before Tea opened her eyes and she blinked a few times, not sure herself but suddenly her eyes widened. I wondered what the pharaoh was talking about in my soul room, about Tea, finding out something new but now I knew what it was. The two souls in her body had emerged too and a sudden feeling of happiness overwhelmed me. A part of my brain knew that it was Atem's side, seeing Teana's side in Tea's eyes and I pulled her head up and kissed her, it felt like we were finally complete. Not only within ourselves, but together as well.

She cuddled herself into my arms and smiled happily before she began to murmur. "I'm hungry." I chuckled a little and she gently slapped my chest and let out a little smile. "I wonder what mom's making," she yawned.

"Toast, bacon and eggs," I answered.

She raised an eyebrow and started to sniff in the air, not knowing how I knew that.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Look back, Tea."

She nodded and closed her eyes, searching into her memories, Teana's memories. Although we now had access to the souls of our past lives, I knew that we first had to search for the answers within ourselves, but it wouldn't take too long before we would remember everything. A part of me knew that sometimes things needed to be triggered, like someone walking through a door or saying something before we could remember something essential. I still didn't know who had attacked me three thousand years ago but I had a feeling I would soon find out.

"Your magic powers," she said before opening her eyes again and hugging me closer to her body.

**Tea:**

I had noticed that Kaiba was avoiding me the whole day now, as if he knew that he had showed me a weakness by telling me he had called a dueling card Kisara. His eyes sometimes went towards my direction and rested on me a few seconds before turning away again. He was probably wondering how I knew the name of his favorite card.

"Mr. Ishtar," Yami said when all the other students had already left the classroom. "I need to talk with Ishizu."

Our teacher looked up from his desk and shook his head. "She's already back in Egypt, Yami."

"That won't be a problem, just tell her I need to speak to her." Yami's voice was polite but demanding at the same time, as if he was telling him that no one would stop him from talking to her.

"About what?" Mr. Ishtar asked, now curious.

"I can't tell you, but it's important." Of course Yami trusted Mr. Ishtar, he just wasn't sure if he should tell him, since Atem wanted to go to Ishizu, not to anyone else.

"I see," our teacher murmured. He put his hand into his pocket and I could see Yami's eyes narrow.

"Don't." I knew that he was a bit mad, but he was trying to remain his calm, like he always did.

The blond haired man in front of him his eyes widened in shock. "Atem?" he whispered.

Yami nodded and turned his back to the man, so we could go to our next class.

"Why did you say that?" I whispered when we were in the hallways.

"He was going to use his Millennium Item, to read my mind. He wanted to know what I was going to talk about with Ishizu." Yami whispered back.

I nodded and when we turned to the left I could see a group of people, standing in a circle. It seemed as if two people were playing a duel so when we came closer I stood on my tip toes to look over the people, seeing Ryo and a boy I didn't know sitting on the ground, their cards spread out. Ryo's hair looked as if he hadn't combed it in days and his eyes were narrower, a black spot underneath them as if he hadn't slept in days. His Millennium Ring hang over his shirt, which was quit abnormal. Normally he would always hide it, scared that someone might steal it.

"Now, give me your cards," the boy in front of me said.

My eyes widened in shock, he didn't sound like Ryo, he sounded cruel, heartless, cold as ice. The other boy was sniffing and I could see his body shake, he was handing his deck and an evil grin played on Ryo's face.

"Ryo!" I shouted. "You can't take that boy's cards!"

Most of the people weren't paying attention to us but were comforting their friend who was sitting on the ground, his head buried in his hands.

"Tea," Yami said while lying his hand onto my shoulder. "That's not Ryo." I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "That's Thief king Bakura," he said.

I turned around and a part of me could remember now, how the young man in front of me had once killed the man I loved and a rage was building deep inside of me.

"You," I hissed while pointing my finger.

He took it with his hand and smiled down at me evilly. "Well well, if it isn't the little servant. It's a shame that you remember before my plan succeeded but it won't matter."

"Let her go." Yami looked into his deep red eyes but he just smirked back at him.

"Why would I?"

Yami looked at his feet for a second and his eyes shot open when he turned his head back to Ryo, causing the boy to fly back a few feet and only stopping once he hit the wall.

"Pharaoh Atem," he grinned, not caring about the pain. "This will make things so much more fun."

"Make what more fun?" Yami asked.

"My revenge," he simply replied before the room went dark.

I took a step forward, not knowing what happened and grabbed one of Yami's arms and closed my eyes tightly, preparing on whatever was going to come.

"Open your eyes Tea, it's okay," Yami said.

Slowly I opened them and saw that the hallway seemed normal again, but Ryo was gone.

"He just wanted to escape, but he'll come back, I know he will," Yami said, staring at the wall where our enemy lied a few seconds before, the enemy Atem had been talking about.


	19. The final duel

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade!**

**Chapter nineteen: The final duel**

**Yami:**

Tea and I walked outside, followed by Mai who was holding Joey's hand and his little sister Serenity. Tristan was running towards us, holding his helmet into one if his hands.

"Hey Yami, you're little brother is here!" he shouted.

I looked behind the brown haired young man and I could see my little brother, standing at the gates, talking to a boy twice his age, Mokuba.

"Yugi!" I shouted. The little boy turned around and waved before running towards me, followed by the black haired boy.

"Mokuba?" I could hear Kaiba say behind me, he was surprised too to see his little brother here.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the violet eyed boy in front of me.

"School was out early today and Mokuba suggested we should wait for you guys." He was smiling, glad he had found a new friend.

At first I didn't think Kaiba would ever become my friend but now I knew Atem's history, my history, I had some respect for the cold CEO. Tea on the other hand had compassion, she was hurt, knowing that he too had lost a loved one a few millennia ago. She knew what Seto felt deep inside and had told me it was the cause of his attitude which only seemed different towards his little brother, since he loved him.

"Hey Tea," Mokuba said before walking past us towards his older brother. I had noticed that Tea had taken a liking of the younger Kaiba and apparently he liked her too. He had the same spirit in his eyes that Yugi had, the spirit of a happy kid but he also had the seriousness of his big brother, unlike the boy next to me.

"Well well well, it's like old times, isn't it pharaoh?"

I could feel Tea, grabbing my hand and we all turned around, looking at the entrance of the school. Bakura was standing there with a smirk on his face, his arms crossed. I hadn't felt him approaching, he must've used his Millennium Ring so I couldn't.

"I wonder which of your friends will die this time," he murmured, looking at them one by one, as if he was choosing a victim.

"Ryo, what are you doing?" Tristan shouted, thinking it was just a joke.

"That's not Ryo," I answered and I could see a faint glow around the Millennium Ring. "Everyone stand back, now!" I shouted. He was going to unleash his power on us and I had to protect them with the power of my Millennium Item. I wasn't sure if he was intending on hurting them, but I needed to keep them safe, just in case.

Most of them were too startled to do anything but Tea grabbed their hands and led them behind me. Even Kaiba seemed to follow, but that was probably because Mokuba told him to. The black haired boy might distrust me, since the rivalry between me and his brother but he trusted Tea to know this was an important thing to do.

"You won't be able to protect them, Atem." Bakura jumped down the steps and I could feel a darkness approaching us. He was taking us to a place I had been once, long ago. The shadow realm.  
Soon a battle field appeared beneath us, an old one, like in the Egyptian times. I noticed that there were some upgrades though, it seemed to work like a normal arena but probably Bakura chose this environment because he wanted to be a bit dramatic.

"Your friends can watch the show, they can watch you suffer. I will beat you this time and then your Millennium Puzzle will be mine. But don't worry, you won't miss it. Your soul will end up in the Shadow Realm and your friends will soon accompany you." An evil grin was still playing around the red-eyed boy's lips and I laughed.

"You won't be able to beat me, Bakura. I won't let you." I said to him. I could feel the determination of both me and Atem inside of me, we had to defeat him, no matter what.

"I have the power now," he smirked back at me. "You won't be able to defeat me once I pull the strongest card there is."

"What is this nonsense?" Kaiba asked. "Where are we?" He looked around, only seeing darkness and the large arena and so did the others. No one understood except for Tea.

"In the Shadow Realm, Seto. It's a place that can only be summoned by a Millennium Item. People can be sent here, it's a place of eternal suffering."

"Yami, I want to go back to grandpa, can we go now?" Yugi asked, a little bit trembling and taking my hand in his. I knew that he was a brave little guy but even I got the chills of this place.

"I'll have to duel him and win, then we can go home." I answered while putting a smile onto my face. I had to comfort him somehow.

"Then take this." He put his hand into one of his pockets and took out his deck, searching for two cards. "The Dark magician and Dark Magician Girl will help you," he smiled back.

I nodded and stepped towards the field, to face Bakura who already stood in his place. Yugi had turned to go to Tea and was now holding her hand, scared to let go.

As soon as I stepped onto the field I could feel a shiver running over my body. When I looked down at my arms I could see that my jacket was gone, replaced by clothes and golden jewelry Atem always wore.

"What is this?" Kaiba asked.

I turned around and I could see him, in his High Priest clothes. Tea was standing next to him, also in Egyptian clothes and so did the rest. They didn't understand a thing of it but I did, he wanted them to remember, at least some of them.

"I'm just making it a little bit more dramatic, I want you to remember your pain, especially you, Seto," Bakura laughed. "But you will know soon enough."

Kaiba raised his eyebrow but before he could speak the dark side of Ryo turned back to me.

"Now, no summoning for this game. You just lay down whatever monster you have," Bakura said to me. "Whoever kills the opponents strongest cards wins, got it?"

I nodded and took my hand. My own dark magician was already in my hand and a smile appeared on my face. My cards would never let me down, I knew that.

"I play the Dark Magician, in attack mode."

Bakura growled but laid down a monster in defense mode, he didn't seem to have any good cards in his hand and I was pleased. I was the Duel King, I had never lost a battle before and I wouldn't start losing now. There was too much at stake, my life and my friends' lifes.

"Dark Magician, destroy that card!" I pointed towards the faced down card and my Dark Magician pointed his want to it. "Dark magic attack!"

The card soon disappeared to the graveyard and I took another card from my deck. This time it was Yugi's read Dark Magician and I decided to play it as well.

"Red Dark Magician, in attack mode!" The wizard soon appeared but he didn't look like I thought he would. Instead of wearing his regular clothes in red, he now wore Egyptian clothes and I soon recognized him but Tea already screamed.

"Mahad!"

My card turned and looked down at her. "Teana?" he asked. He had a questioning look on his face and looked puzzled, he didn't know what had happened.

"That isn't a Dark magician!" Joey shouted. "He's a human being!"

Mahad now turned around to face me. "Atem? But how? You died, I've seen it."

"I'm not the Atem you know, my name is Yami. Atem is locked, inside of me, Mahad. The girl you see down there isn't Teana, it's Tea."

He looked down and nodded. "I remember, this is the time where you're coming back, isn't it? And I guess my soul was locked into this tablet when I died."

He looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, I'm standing on something different than a tablet, it seems paper!"

"You're three thousand years in the future, Mahad. Bakura just chose this environment to make it more dramatic. You don't have to worry, you're a strong card," I assured him.

"Enough talking!" Bakura shouted. He was smirking and turned the card he had in his hand. "I play, The Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Impossible!" Kaiba shouted. "You were the one that stole my card?"

"Yes Seto, I was the one. Angry?" He laughed evilly but my thoughts were somewhere else. If the card that held Mahad's soul made him appear, would the Blue Eyes White Dragon be Kisara then? And what would it do to Seto? His subconscious clearly remember a part of her but what if he saw her? Would he remember, like I had remembered?

As soon as he laid the card down gasps were coming out of everyone's mouth. A young woman with hairs white as snow and a skin so pale it seemed vibrant appeared in front of me. She opened her blue eyes and they were filled with wonder.

"Mahad?" she whispered when she looked towards the man in front of her. "But how?"

He pointed towards me and the white haired girl's head turned. "How is Seto, Atem? Please tell me he's still alive. Please tell me my sacrifice wasn't for nothing."

"He isn't, not exactly," I answered. "The Seto you know has died three millennia ago, but his soul is still here."

She raised an eyebrow and looked down, meeting Tea's gaze and she smiled a little.

"I've missed you, Teana," she said before her head turned towards Kaiba. "Seto," she murmured, her eyes filled with a sudden desire. I knew that she wanted to be with him as desperate as Atem had wanted to be with Teana. I could feel it know, the feelings he had for Tea's past life, it were the feelings that made me love Tea even more, that made us feel complete.

"Kisara," he murmured, suddenly remembering. "What did you do to her? Why is she a card?" he shouted at Bakura. "Let her go, now!" His cold eyes were now filled with emotions. They were a mixture of rage, wonder and affection. I could see what Tea had meant now, Seto truly loved Kisara.  
"Seto, Seto," my opponent said while shaking his head. "I'm sure you can remember, her soul is locked within this card, since the day she Maximillion Pegasus decided to transform the tablet into a card,…"

Seto growled at him and took a step forward, trying to get to Bakura. Less than a second later he was down to the ground, hit back by an attack of the Millennium Ring.

"Ah ah ah, you won't be able to be near her, not anymore. You've had your time long ago, you should've protected her better back then, like Atem protected Teana. But of course, you didn't love her enough to do so, did you?"

"That's enough!" Kisara shouted. She turned around and faced Bakura.

"What? Don't you like to hear the truth? That High Priest Seto didn't love you? You were nothing but a servant, he didn't want you. And even if he did, how could he ever protect you? He couldn't even protect you when you were just a card… Now, use your white lighting and kill those two Dark Magicians," he answered.

At first it seemed as if Kisara wasn't going to move but her body started to shake when Bakura demanded her. "Now," he said.

She turned around and looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Atem, Mahad," she whispered and she looked down, a white light coming out of her and wiping my cards of the field.

Even if I had a card that was strong enough to defeat my enemy, I couldn't use it, could I? What would happen with Kisara? Would she die again when she was sent to the graveyard? No, I couldn't think that way, I could save her if I wanted to, I just needed to defeat Bakura and get us back.

"Yami, trust in the heart of the cards!" my little brother shouted.

I nodded and laid my hand upon my deck. When I trusted in them, they would win this, like they always did. I closed my eyes and pulled out the card, taking it into my hand. When I opened them again a smile played on my lips, I had pulled the right card.

"I play this one, in attack mode," I said.

As soon as the card laid down a brown haired girl appeared, wearing Egyptian clothes. When she turned around and saw me she jumped up and down.

"Atem, Atem! I've missed you!" she shouted and she smiled happily at me.

"Hey there Mana," I answered. "Could you do me a favor and attack Kisara?"

She raised an eyebrow and turned around, noticing Bakura. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She waved her want in the air, as if she was going to hit him and I couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Shut up, you little twerp," he answered, clearly annoyed.

She put out her tongue and turned to me. "How am I going to defeat him exactly? I'm not stronger than Kisara."

"You are," the white haired girl answered. "Mahad is in the graveyard, Mana, and so is the other Dark Magician."

"Mahad is in the graveyard?" she asked, blinking a few times. I could see a faint glow appearing around her, which meant the effect of her card was starting to work. The two dark Magicians in the graveyard would give her the advantage she needed, she would be able to defeat Kisara.

"Mana, Dark magic attack!" I shouted. She nodded and told Kisara she was sorry before using her attack which meant I had won the duel.

"Why?" Bakura asked, smashing his fists onto the desk in front of him which caused his cards to fly everywhere. "Why do you always beat me? You won't get away with this!" he shouted.

He took Kisara's card and smiled evily. "This time you won't be able to save anyone," he said. Soon the card was ripped into pieces and I heard Seto scream.

"Seto," I said. "It's time we finish him."

He nodded at me and closed his eyes, so did I, we were building our magic powers. "Mind crush!" we shouted at the exact same time and I could see Thief King Bakura disappear into the Shadow Realm before everything turned back to normal.

We stood on the playground again, Ryo lying on the ground, his cards scattered around him and his Millennium Ring lay down on the ground as well. I stepped over to him and took it from his neck when I heard the doors open behind us. When I turned Mr. Ishtar rushed over to us.

"Are you all okay? I could feel his power but I wasn't in time," he said, noticing the Millennium Ring in my hands.

"I want you to take this," I said, handing it over to him. "I know that it'll be save with you, or Ishizu. His soul now rests into the Shadow Realm but he might return someday. That's why I want you to protect it."

The blonde man nodded and took the Millennium Item.

"Seto, are you okay?"

I turned around and I could see Seto, sitting down on his knees, Mokuba lying his hand upon his older brother's shoulder. For the first time in my life I had seen tears, coming out of Kaiba's cold eyes. I felt sorry for him, he had lost Kisara once more and was now holding the two pieces of the card, her soul was gone now, for good.

**Tea:**

Weeks had passed and everything had turned back to normal, kinda. Seto was much more quiet and it seemed as if he had lost the strength to continue with his company but I had an idea everything would be okay, I was sure of that. Unlike Yami he hadn't obtained his magic powers, he only got them in the Shadow Realm but he could remember what had happened in the past now, it was hurting him to know Kisara was gone. I on the other hand was training for New York and the closer the day I had to leave came, the more I already missed Yami and my friends. I really wanted to go to New York, I just didn't want to leave without him…

"Seto, I've arranged an interview with a new secretary," I said through the phone.

"Yes, thank you, Tea," he murmured before lying the phone back down.

Although Kaiba was still a loner and cold, he was acting more friendly towards me, knowing that I had once been his lost love's best friend.

I looked at the painting in front of me and smiled. "I hope you're doing well Kisara," I whispered before looking back to the notes I had taken down.

A few minutes ago a young woman had called me, she had heard Kaiba was looking for a new secretary and she wanted to come over for an interview as soon as school was done. She seemed nice and I accepted it.

"Darn it!" I said, suddenly realizing I forgot to ask the girl's name. Lately my mind was filled with too much things, I was forgetting other important things too.

"Maybe Yami and I should go out this weekend," I murmured before continuing my work.


	20. Epilogue

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of these characters, this is just fanmade.**

**Epilogue:**

**Tea:**

Today was the day I was going to leave for New York and I felt sad inside. Yami had to leave a week ago because now school had ended he was The Duel King again and he had to defend his title. A sigh escaped my lips when I showed one of the women in front of me my ticket.

"Good day Miss Gardner, have a nice flight and I hope you enjoy your visit in New York," she said to me with a smile on her face.

I weakly smiled back and turned around to see all my friends, some of them with tears in their eyes.

"O Tea, I'm going to miss you!" Mai said and she ran over to me to give me a hug, the rest soon following and I got caught into a huge group hug. Although I was glad my friends were here, I couldn't help but to miss the one who I had missed even before I was gone.

"Now don't you start to cry or I'll cry too," I said to Serenity who was shaking.

She looked up to me and smiled. "Sorry Tea. I was just thinking of the pain I will have to go through now Mai and I are the only one to keep Joey calm, we could sure use you," she teased her brother.

"Hey! Wait until we get home little one, then I'll show you how annoying I can be!"

We all started to laugh and Tristan laid his hand upon my shoulders.

"Strange things have happened the last year but you have to remember we will always have your back, even if your miles and miles away from us."

I smiled at my friends and pulled them into one last hug before the intercom told me I had to step onto the plane.

**Yami:**

I looked at my watch and was tapping with my foot. It wasn't often that I was impatient but today I was, I couldn't wait to see Tea's face when she saw me. I had told her I had to leave for a tournament but the truth was that I had to arrange everything for her arrival. Using some money and my status I had convinced the school Tea was going to, to let her live out of the school, with me in our apartment that I had bought a few months ago. It was only a couple of blocks from the school so she didn't have to walk too far.

"Flight 427 is arriving at gate 9," a woman's voice said through the intercom and I rushed through the hallways, people giving me strange looks.

When I arrived at the gate I could see Tea, her back turned to me and she bent down to grab her suitcase. I ran towards her and grabbed it before she could.

"Hey, that's mine!" she said before gasping.

"Yami," she stammered and she flew into my arms, kissing me as if her life depended on it.

**Seto:**

It had been a few months but still I couldn't keep Kisara out of my head. She was gone now, for good. I held the two parts of her card in my hands, like I did every day when a knock on the door made me look up.

Tea had left a couple of days ago and I remembered I was having an interview today. It seemed pretty boring and I didn't want to do it, but I had too, I needed a new secretary.

"Come in."

My back was facing the door and I was looking outside the huge windows, looking at the people walking through the streets.

"Mr. Kaiba?" the young woman asked. Something in her voice seemed familiar but I didn't turn around,still looking at the tiny people.

"My name is Kyara, Tea told me I should come and do an interview," she said.

"Yes indeed. Have you done a job like this before?" I asked, a bit uninterested.

"No."

"Have you studied to do a job like this?" I could see a white haired woman walking on the streets and I could feel an aching pain in my heart which caused me to look at my own feet.

"No."

"Then why do you want to do this job?" I asked the girl.

"Because I want to be with you."

I turned around, expecting another fan girl but as soon as I saw the pale skin and snow white hairs my heart skipped a beat.

"Kisara?" I whispered, unsure if I was dreaming or not.

She smiled at me, her light blue business suit, soothing perfectly with her eyes making her seem different than in my memory but she looked beautiful, as always.

"Not really," she answered. "It's Kyara now, but I think it will do, don't you?"

I was too dumbfounded to say anything and she walked over to me, turning my chair so she could face me. She laid her hand upon my cheek and her warm breath was gently caressing my face.

"Seto, it is me, trust me," she whispered before touching my lips with hers.

**(A/N: TADAAA! A happy ending :D I hope you like this, although it's short, but hey, it's an epilogue! I want to thank all of you for reviewing and reading this story. I think I'm going to take a little break now, since I've written too much Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm not quite sure if I'm going to write an Avatar or DBZ story first, or maybe I'll just stop writing a few days and start the AtemxTeana story immediately, we'll see :D)******

**~Crackingvoices**


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